The First Day of the Rest of Our Lives
by DefyingGravitywJB
Summary: It's the day after the Great Battle of Hogwarts. Harry has defeated Voldemort. Now he has to set his life straight. HarryxGinny RonxHermione
1. Finding Ginny

It was the day after the "Great Battle of Hogwarts", as it was being called. Harry had found refuge in Gryffindor Tower and was ready to appear in the real world. He had not seen his friends for so long. He had not spoken to Ginny in private for so long. He wanted to just sweep her off her feet and kiss her. He wanted to just hear her laugh. But, he could not do this in Gryffindor Tower.

"Hey, dude. You okay?" Ron had intercepted Harry at the bottom of the spiral staircase. He and Hermione were sitting on one of the overstuffed couches in the Common Room.

"Yeah, you look terrible, Harry. Are you sure you got enough sleep?" Hermione added.

"Thanks, Hermione. After defeated the most evil, powerful wizard in the world, I should look fresh as a springtime daisy. Sorry to disappoint." Harry answered. But, what was different about this answer was, unlike his similar answers from the last six months, this was said with humor. Harry was actually making a joke. "Are you guys okay?"

"We're...okay." Ron had a tough time answering. His brother had died the day before. Ron remained quiet after his reply and Hermione stood up, walked over to him, and hugged him. Harry decided to leave Hermione to console Ron. Harry walked to the portrait. When he went to step through the hole, he looked back into the Common Room. Only then did he notice that it was empty. The only occupants were Ron and Hermione.

Harry slowly made his way to the Great Hall. He walked passed broken banisters, ripped pictures and holes in the walls. At one point, Harry stopped and looked out one hole. He saw the black lake, surrounded by different people. Some he recognized as students of Hogwarts. Others he was unfamiliar with. They were all camped around the lake. Harry saw that they had spent the whole noght there. They had sleeping bags and tents.

Harry continued on his way. When he finally eached the Great Hall, he found that it was full. As he walked up the aisle to find a seat, people's heads followed him and whispers broke out. Dean and Luna were seated near the end of a table and they waved for him to join them. Harry gratefully accepted a seat and reached for the toast.

"Hey, Harry. How ya' doin?" Dean asked. Luna had a look on her face that asked the same question.

"Fine. What about you guys?"

Luna answered him. "We are okay."

Before she could start asking other questions, Harry broke in. "Do you guys know why no one was in the Gryffindor Tower?"

"Yeah. You, Ron and Hermione were the first to go in. People decided to give you guys a 'safe haven', if you would. A bunch of us decided to camp by the lake. Some others just went into the other houses. Wait. No one went into the Slytherin Common Room. That place was left empty." answered Luna.

"Do you guys know what they are going to do with Voldemort's body?" Harry asked. He was very pleased when they did not flinch at the name.

"There ave only been rumors. Some say that he is going to be buried in a tomb in the Department of Mysteries. Others suspect that his body is going to be cremated and his ashes released over the Atlantic Ocean. No one knows for sure. A group of leaders is going to meet later and think about it." Dean told Harry. "Right now, they are just going to keep him in one of the dungeons. They moved him from that chamber about a half hour ago."

"Thanks. Have you guys seen Ginny anywhere? I need to talk to her."

"Ginny went for a broomride fifteen minutes ago." Dean and Luna looked at each other and smirked. Tey both knew what Harry wanted to talk to Ginny about.

"Thanks." Harry left, starting to feel a bit uncomfortable with the two of them. As Harry walked away, he turned and saw Luna and Dean holding hands over the table. 'At least some good came out of all this madness.'

Harry walked out onto the grounds to fly and find Ginny when he realized he needed his broomstick. Then, he realized that his broomstick was gone. The broomshed had burned down, to Harry's disappointment. He wandered over to the broomshed and found that an old broomstick had survived. It was the same broomstick he had used when his Nimbus 2000 had smashed in his third year. Harry absolute despised the broom, but he needed to find Ginny. A couple walking along the forest saw Harry's plight and handed him a Nimbus 1000. They smiled at him and ran off. Harry tried to follow them, but lost them when they darted into the forest.

'Wierd' Harry thought, but when he looked back on his life, he realized that much wierder things had happened. Harry took to the sky and felt at home. He soared over the forest and lake. When the people camping saw him, they all started to clap and wave. Harry quickly flew away, very embarassed.

After about an hour of flying, Harry began to give up on finding Ginny. He decided to do one more lap around Hogsmeade. He started off and passed the Shrieking Shack. That was when Harry realized that Snape's body was still in there. Harry felt that he owed it to Snape to get his body, at least. Harry landed by the front door and slowly opened it, expecting to find Snape's body about four feet away. To his surprise, it was gone. There was a small, white stone where the body had lain. A note was held down by the stone.

_To anyone it may concern,_

_The body of Severus Snape was found here, killed of snake poison. His body will be placed with the other fighters defending Hogwarts. If you protest, you must know that the Albus Dumbledore has vouched for Snape. He will be seen as a hero. His job was to protect all he could from the wrath of th Dark Lord. He could do this better when he knew the Dark Lord's evil plans. _

_Sincerely, the Order of the Pheonix_

Harry was pleased to know that Snape was seen as a hero. Knowing that this matter was taken care of, Harry looked around the shack. The wallpaper was peeling and the carpets were smudged with dirt and dust. The dust was disturbed in a few places, probably from Voldemort and his followeres being in here.

The only thing that did not fit in the picture was the broomstick dropped in the corner. Amazingly enough, the broomstick was the same make and style as the broom Ginny rode. A trail of displaced dust led upstairs. Harry followed the path was led to a bedroom on the second floor. He knocked gently and was answered with a sob. He pushed to door open slowly and looked around. The only thing he noticed was a giant four poster bed on the opposite wall.

He could not take anything in because he noticed who was on the bed. Ginny was curled into a fetal position, sobbing on the bed. She did not notice the visiter in her haven. Harry slowly walked over and gently laid his hand on her back. She started and pointed her wand at him. When she saw it was Harry who had found her, she lowered her wand and tried to wipe away the tears on her face.

Harry grasped her hands firmly but gently and leaned in to kiss her.

* * *

_Ha! Does Ginny let Harry kiss her?! Thanks for reading if you got this far. I just wanted to write what I thought would happen after book 7. If you agree, write a review, write a review. If you do not agree, still write a review. I want some input. Keep reading this story please. There will be updates soon. Thanks!_

_And of course, as all of you should know, I do not own these characters. They belong to J.K. Rowling. _

_Defying Gravity _


	2. I Love You

Harry firmly but gently grasped her wrists and leaned in to kiss her.

Ginny slowly leaned in and let him kiss her. First it was a gentle meeting if their lips, but it soon became a kiss full of passion. When they both stopped so they could breathe, they each looked at the other. They stared into each other's eyes, the couple still holding hands. They remained in their trance for what seemed like years, but was in reality, fifteen minutes.

The two of them finally snapped out of it. Harry looked at Ginny and started to speak.

"Ginny, I love you." Harry watched for her reaction. When she did not respond, he stood up and turned to go, thinking that she did not love him anymore. But his progress was stopped when a small, warm hand grasped his wrist. Harry turned back and saw that Ginny was sitting up with a determined look in her eyes.

"Harry, I am sorry. It's just that, with Fred dying, I'm a bit confused at the moment. I need to think. But I am very glad you're here. I just thought that you were dead. Voldemort came out of the forest and Hagrid was carrying your body, and I..." Ginny trailed off, leaving the sentence unfinished. Ginny was not making much sense at the moment, so Harry let her get herself together.

After a moment, Ginny looked up and smiled. She stood up and wrapped her arms around Harry's neck. She gently kissed him. Harry kissed her back and whirled her around the room. When they broke apart, the couple walked hand in hand down the stairs and grabbed their brooms. They walked out the front door and before they took off, Ginny whispered, "I love you," in Harry's ear. They looked at each other, then flew away to Hogwarts.

* * *

Ten minutes later, the couple landed in a clearing in the forest. They slowly made their way through the brush and exited the forest near Hagrid's hut. It was burned and torn apart. Harry quickly averted hs eyes from the scene. Ginny did the same. The couple ran towards the colossal castle.

The couple walked up the stairs to the front door, which was left open. As they walked through the entrance hall, people turned to stare at them, only to look away when Harry or Ginny looked in their general direction. No one talked to them as they slowly walked through Hogwarts. They reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. With the new password, victory, they were allowed in. Ron and Hermione were still on the couch. They had fallen asleep after not sleeping all night. Hermione's arm was thrown across Ron's chest and his arm was around her shoulders.

"Did I miss something?" Ginny whispered in Harry's ear. She was still unaware that Ron and Hermione were "together".

"I'll explain in a minute. Let's go." Harry whispered back. He led the way up the staircase to the boy's dorm. When they got there, Harry sat on his bed and Ginny sat on the bed next to his. They turned to look at each other.

"Okay, before anything else happens, answer this. Are Ron and Hermione a couple, officially?" Ginny started their conversation.

"Yeah. Wait...what do you mena officially? Were they unofficial?" Harry asked, very confused.

"Yes. If you have failed to notice, over the last couple months, the two of them have not been officially dating, but they were very happy to be with each other. I mean really, you would have to be completely oblivious or stupid not to notice." Ginny explained in a matter of fact way.

**"Will Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, and Luna Lovegood please come to the Headmaster's office. Thank you."** Minerva McGonagal announced through the magical intercom system.

"I guess we're off again," sighed Ginny. She stood up and stretched. Harry followed the same suite. But, after he stood up, he grabbed Ginny around the waist and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around her neck and kissed him back.

The couple was interupted by someone clearing their throat by the door. There stood Ron and Hermione. Ginny and Harry broke apart. Hermione raised her eyebrow and laughed. Harry looked over Hermione's shoulder and saw Ron looked back at him. Ron shrugged his shoulders and looked up. Harry took this as a "If you must" look.

Wordlessly, the foursome walked down the spiral staircase and out the portrait to see what they were needed for. They walked through the castle and finally arrived at the gargoyle. It moved aside without a password being given and admitted them.

* * *

_Sorry that this is a short chapter. I did not have time to keep writing, and even if I did, this is the best spot to end a chapter. The next chapter will be longer (virtual pinkie swear). Thanks for reading!! Review!!_

_Thanks to the seven people who have put my story on their Alerts!! You know who you are._

_As everyone knows, I do not own the characters. If you were unaware of that little fact, go to your bookstore and buy a copy of Harry Potter. NOW_

_Defying Gravtiy_


	3. Forbidden Forest it is

As thhe foursome walked up to the great wooden door that covered the entrance to the Headmaster's office, Ron, Hermione, and Harry each looked at each other.

They were worried that they would get in trouble for one of the numerous things they had done in the past nine months: breaking into Gringotts for one. The Goblins were known for wanting what belonged to them or those who trusted them with possessions. The latter included the Lestranges. Stealing the cup might be a problem, as could be the damage they inflicted to the building itself.

The four each grabbed another person's hand and squeezed it. They looked into each others' eyes, they were empowered by the bond of friendship the had forged.

Harry entered first. When he entered the office, the first thing he noticed was the assortment of people there. Kingsley Shacklebolt, Prof. McGonagal, Prof. Flitwick, Prof. Sprout, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Hagrid were all there. Also, on stands on the desk, were portraits of the fallen members of the Order of the Phoenix; Mad-Eye Moody, Lupin, Tonks, and Dumbledore. When the teenagers entered, everything became quiet and heads turned to stare at them.

In silence, Harry, Ron and Hermione went to stand agianst the right wall. Ginny went to stand with Luna and Neville, whom the trio had not noticed standing in the corner.

Dumbledore, from his portrait, broke the silence. "Harry, Ron, Hermione, we are all very proud of you. We did not have a chance to say that last night, withe all the excitement. You three are heroes and deserve to be recognized for that. You three went out, on my wishes, put yourself in danger for the better, and potentially saved the Wizarding, if not the whole, world. We will all be in your debt. But there are somethings we need to discuss.

First and foremost, you need to finish school. The problem is that we are not sure how much you learned while you out there. You surely do not want to be back for a whole year more (Hermione looked like she was going to object, but Ron squeezed her hand hard to distract her) so we will test you on what you know, then you will be tutored on what needs improvement.

Second, we need to decide what to do with Voldemort's body." Dumbledore looked around and smiled when no one flinched at the name. "You six were part of his downfall, so you deserve a say in the matter. One of the ideas floating around is that we cremate his body and scatter the ashes. Others say we sould bury him in an unmarked tomb. Does anyone wish to say anything?" Dumbledore looked around waiting for someone to start to speak. When no one did, he looked at Harry and asked, "Harry, you are the one ultimately responsible for his downfall. What do you say?"

Harry looked at the floor, thinking. He finally thought of what to say. "Sir, I believe that if we treat his body cruelly, we are no better than he was. I think we sould cremate his ashes, then bury them. Where we bury them is up to you."

When Harry finished, everyone just stared at him. They were all amazed at what he was saying. Harry, of all people, would have the right to be angry, but he was calm. Finally, Shacklebolt spoke. "I agree with Harry. We should not treat the remains with cruelty. I say we cremate the body and bury it.

At this point, Luna fianlly spoke up. "What is we bury him in the Forbidden Forest, deep in the Forest. No one would think to look there and no one would travel so far in." Everyone liked this idea and quickly voted. It was unanimous. Forbidden Forest it was.

* * *

The next day, the little group tramped into the forest. No creatures bothered them. They had all been scared away or killed by the battle. When they came to spot a ways into the forest, they stopped and took the broomsticks they had been carrying and took off into the gathering mist. Everyone was staring intently into the mist and had both hands on their brooms except for one. Kingslel Shacklebolt had a bag slung across his back and one hand was on the strap across his chest.

After a while, none were absolutely sure how long they had flown, Harry signalled them to land. When they were on the ground, McGonagal took out her wand and did a quick little spell that made a perfect circle in the ground, 7 feet deep. Shacklebolt then took out what was in the bag he carried, a black urn. In it were the ashes of Voldemort. He walked over to the hole and, using a levitation charm, lowered it into the hole. Once Voldemort was six feet under, Harry took out his wand and lowered the displaced dirt back into its original place.

Last, Hermione took out a small stone from her pocket, enlarged it, and placed it on the grave. The stone was black and engraved in it were the words were,

_Tom Marvolo Riddle_

She stepped back and Ron wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Harry then stepped forward to say a few words. "Voldemort, you treated others with disrespect. We will not do the same to you." With that, he stepped back. He had sat up all night, trying to think of what to say. He could not think of anything appropriate. What were you supposed to say at the funeral of your mortal enemy? When he got back in his spot, Ginny grabbed his hand an squeezed it while Ron patted him on the shoulder. When no one else had anything to say, they all remounted thier brooms and flew back into the mist, using the point-me spell to find her their way back to Hogwarts.

* * *

Another chapter completed. I hope you enjoy it. I am thinking to make the next chapter at a memorial service for all the people who fought and died during the battle. Keep reading and reviewing!

Thanks to the **_ 22 _**people who put this story on their story alert and the numerous others who added me to their favorite authorslist, Author Alert, and Favorite Story. I feel so honored. I know for sure that at least 22 people will read this. YEAH!!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, in case you have failed to realize.

Defying Gravity


	4. Signatures

It was the day after the burial and there was another meeting. This time, McGonagal started the meeting, not Dumbledore.

"Okay, enough time has gone by. We need to figure out what to do to honor the dead." It was only at this point that Harry noticed that the portraits that had been on the desk at the first meeting, were gone. "So far, the plan is to offer the families the option of burying their loved ones at Hogwarts. If not, there will be a memorial service and then send them home. We need ideas for a fitting monument. Kingsley has been working at the Ministry, trying to restore order and has decided to put a monument in there as well. What we need to do is decide what it will be. Does anyone have any ideas?"

* * *

It was a week after the Great Battle of Hogwarts. It was time for the memorial service.

Of the 50 or so people died, 26 were going to be buried on the Hogwarts grounds. Two of those people were Tonks and Lupin. Andromeda, Tonks' mother, had decided to have her daughter buried there and Lupin had no family to decide where to bury him, so he would be buried with his wife. Colin Creevey and Fred were going to be buried in their families' plots.

The big question was, what to do with the dead Death Eaters? Neville came up with the idea to bury them in the Forbidden Forest, as they had done with Voldemort. Somehow, Shacklebolt, McGonagal, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were able to fing their way back to the spot where they buried Voldemort. In the same suit, they were lowered 7 feet below the ground and black stones with the name of the Death Eater.

* * *

It was three in the afternoon. It was decided to use the Quidditch pitch for the ceremony, as it was the only place big enough to seat all the mourners. McGonagal performed a little Transfiguration and the stands, insted of their normal Hogwarts house colors, were black. When evryone was seated, a small group of people entered the stadium and sat on a small platform that was erected on the half pitch line. When they were seated, silence fell upon the crowd.

With the silence came a procession of the families of those who had died. Among the group was the Weasleys. Mrs. Weasley could hardly walk on her own. She was grasping Mr. Weasley's arm on one side and Bill's on the other. Ron, Ginny, Charlie, Percy and George followed.

Also among the group was the Creevey family. Colin's father, a muggle, was there with Dennis. Dennis looked small and pale and he moved in the trance-like state.

When all the families entered, they took seats in the first row of the stands. When everyone was sitting, Kingsley Shacklebolt rose from his seat on the dais, and walked to a podium that appeared out of nowhere. His loud, slow, deep, voice resonated throughout the staduim as he started to speak.

"My friends, we have come today not to mourn, but to honor those who have given their lives for a better world. They left us in a blaze of glory. Each of them fought their hardest and their best. Now, because of their sacrifice, their families and friends will live in a better world, which is what they wanted. We may mourn now, but I know they are in a better place and would not want us to cry." With that, Kingsley stepped back and looked to Harry. Harry was going to speak.

All night, Harry had worked on what to say. In the end, he could not write anything down and decided to speak from his heart.

"These were my friends, classmates, family who died. They fought for what they thoguht was right. We could not ask for anything more. They will be respected for generations to come. I know I will remember them. They were respectful, smart, joyful, and funny. They were my family." At this point, Harry could not continue. He stepped back. After a moment, he took his place back at the podium. "Let us not make their sacrifices be in vain. Let us work together to rebuild our world. Let us build the ties of friendship that are needed so terribly. Thank you."

When Harry went back to his seat, The crowd rose as one and clapped. Harry turned red with embarrassment, but it did not last long. At that moment, a large white stone materialized out of thin air in the middle of the pitch. Suspended by magic, it hung in midair until it came to settle on a large stand in the middle of the field. The stone was a obelisk, made of white marble that matched the marble of Dumbledore's grave.

A short wizard, in fact the same person who had done Dumbledore's funerial, stepped forward to talk. "This is the marble that will be used for the monument that will stand on the Hogwarts grounds as a reminder of what happened here only a week ago. All the names of the people who died will be inscribed on it. To show their personalities, their signatures will also be used. Each signature has its own flavor. We decided this would be the best way to remember these honored dead as they were, not just as cold names on a slab of marble. Thank you."

* * *

Five hours later, the slab of marble was embedded in the ground near where Dumbledore's grave was. The names and signatures had been magically inscribed. Surrounding the marble were gravestones, each in the shape of a rectangle with the corners rounded. They were the raves of the people who were to be buried at Hogwarts. Harry stayed for all the funerals that were done and was planning to go to as many others as possible. He felt that he owed a debt to those who had died.

* * *

That night, Harry stayed with the Weasleys at the Burrow. Hogwarts was let out for the summer and Harry felt that it would be a bit too still to stay there. Harry was put in Ron's room and Hermione was staying with Ginny. It was a long night. Mrs. Weasley did not do much. She was still in shock from the memorial service. Fred was going to be buried in three days in the Weasley plot. Ginny and Hermione ended up cooking dinner.

Yet, from the whole night, Harry just remembered sitting next to Ginny at dinner and holding her hand the entire time.

* * *

Sorry this took so long. Writers block. I had a lot of trouble with the memorial service. I know it is probably really bad and feel free to sned in suggestions. I will not take any offence in the least. I will welcome it with open virtual arms.

Thank you to the 33 people who put this story on their Story Alert. In saying this, I know there are 33 people who will read this and I expect 33 new reviews.

Thanks for Reading!!

Defying Gravity

Yeah people, there is a little bluishgrey button right below this sentence. Click on it and type a simple sentence. I read all the reviews I get and respond to most of them. chants click the button, click the button.


	5. Whistles

* * *

Harry woke up the next day to a shout. He sat up and immeadiately grabbed his wand which was on his bedside table. He looked to see what had happened and saw Ron being attacked by a puff. Harry then realized that he was not wearing his glasses and that was why his best friend was being attacked by a puffball. Harry summoned his glasses which had been knocked under his bed and looked again. It was a puffball attacking Ron.

That puffball turned out to be Pig. The miniscule owl had not seen his owner for almost ten months and was outpouring all his feels into this one moment.

When it got quiet again, Harry tried to go to sleep, but it was too hard. He out out of bed, dressed and went outside.

As he walked out of the Burrow, he reflected on the last few weeks. They had been spent going to funeral after funeral of the people who had died in the battle. The hardest one had been Fred's, from three weeks ago. It was one of the first he attended. Mrs. Weasley had cried the whole time. Harry had stood with Ginny the entire time, holding her hand. Hermione comforted Ron. George took the funeral hardest though. His best friends, Lee Jordan and Angelina Johnson, stood by him the entire time.

The last funeral he had attended had been yesterday.

He passed the broomshed and got an idea. He took out a broom, left a note explaining where he would be, and then flew off towards the orchard by the Burrow. To be back in the air felt great. True, he had been flying a week ago when he went in search of Ginny, but he was too distracted to really notice anything.

During that last flight, he had failed to notice the sense of weightlessness, the breeze whipping through your hair and the sense of freedom.

Ever since he had found out about the prophecy, Harry knew that his life would not continue until he defeated Voldemort, which could take years or decades. Harry's life was to be ditated by a plot set into motion when he was just an infant. Now, he could look inot the future and see himself getting a real job (not just hunting down the mosst evil wizard in history), marrying, and having a family. Just ten short months ago, he was had thought that his life was limited to running, whether it be running after someone or away from something.

He was free.

This thought brought Harry back to the present. With this thought, Harry set out as fast as he could towards the Burrow. When he arrived, he found he had been out for almost an hour and a half. Nearly everyone was awake. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Hermione, Percy and Bill were in the kitchen having breakfast. Harry tore past them to stunned looks and gasps of surprise. He raced up the stairs and passed Charlie. When he got to the second floor landing, he ran into the person he had been looking for the entire time.

He ran into Ginny. Literally.

He caught her around the waist and kissed her. She was stunned at first, but then threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back with just as much passion. Harry wished that this moment could just last forever.

Then, someone whistled.

Ginny and Harry broke apart to find the whole Weasley clan and Hermione watching them from the stairs below them. Hermione was beaming, Ron was rolling his eyes, Mrs. Weasley looked like she was going to cry (poor Mrs. Weasley) and everyone else was smiling. The couple smiled at each other, but slowly pulled away because of the audience. Ginny walked down the stairs past her family with a giant smile on her face. With a squeal, Hermione rushed to follow her.

Harry, on the other hand, was rushed upstairs by Ron, Bill, Percy, and Charlie. The four brothers took Harry hostage in Charlie and Bill's bedroom. Harry sat on the bed. The brothers stood shoulder to shoulder blocking the door. In seeing this, Harry was a bit intimidated (who wouldn't be intimidated by Charlie, the dragon trainer, and Bill, the curse breaker?) but also had the immense urge to laugh. The stern looks on their faces squashed this urge completely.

There was a staredown for a moment, until Bill broke the silence.

"Harry, it seems you will be dating our little sister. With this comes some rules. One, you hurt her, we hurt you. Two, break her heart, we break you. And three, be mean to her in any way, you have to answer to us." To really make this last part sink in, all four cracked their knuckles at the same time, then crossed their arms.

Harry was dumbfounded. These guys had known him for years. Would they really expect to be, in any way, mean to Ginny? Harry's incredulous look obviously set the Weasley's off.

Laughing.

First, Ron, then Charlie, Percy, and Bill joined in. Harry was still very confused.

"Harry...could you...really think...we would think...any of this stuff." Ron gasped as he tried to bring air to his lungs. Bill and Charlie were on the ground, rolling around and clutching their sides. "We know...you would never..." Ron could not continue. He burst out laughing and Harry finally joined in.

* * *

Downstairs, Hermione and Ginny were in the overgrown garden laughing hysterically. It seems that they were also in on the little joke that the brothers were going to pull on Harry today. By kissing Ginny, Harry had set the stage perfectly. When the boys had rushed Harry upstairs, Hermione and Ginny had rushed outside, whipped out an Extendable Ear, and sent it up the outside wall to the windowsill of Bill and Charlie's room. They had heard the whole exchange.

* * *

That night, after dinner which was eaten outside, everyone sat out in the orchard and looked at the stars. There was a meteor shower that night. The kids were all on the ground on their backs. Harry and Ginny were holding hands, as were Hermione and Ron. Every thing was perfect, even down to the magical music.

Then the music was interupted by Bill's voice. _"Harry, it seems you will be dating our little sister_..." Hermione had recorded the whole exchange. The Weasley boys roared with laughter. Ginny turned to Harry and kissed him gently on the lips. Harry kissed her back, only to hear more whistles.

It was the first time Mrs. Weasley had laughed in a while.

* * *

Another chapter, gone. I needed a somewhat happy chapter after the memorial service.

Please review. There are 35 of you who have this on your story alert. There are only 29 reviews. How did that happen? REVIEW!!

I do not own these characters. I never will. If you have not understood this little fact yet, get help, now.

Thanks for reading!

Defying Gravity


	6. 4 Privet Drive

Harry and Ginny had been officially together for a month. It was one week until Harry's birthday. Harry had been living at the Burrow and occasionally staying at Hogwarts when he would help with the clean up from the battle. He was currently at the Burrow, playing three-on-three Quidditch. Ginny, Harry, and Ron were on one team while Bill, Charlie and George were on the other. Hermione was keeping score and Percy was the referee. Although Bill, Charlie and George were older, more experienced and playing their hardest, they were still getting their butts handed to them. Ron, Ginny and Harry were phenomenal.

In the end, Hermione announced that Harry, Ginny, and Ron had whooped the others with a score of 290 to 70. Bill, Charlie and George insisted that Hermione cheated because her boyfriend was playing, that the others had an unfair advantage because they had all played together at Hogwarts, and that Harry had taken control of their minds with his awesome "Chosen One" powers. In the end, they had to accept defeat.

When they all returned to the Burrow, Harry received some very...interesting news.

"Harry, you've got some mail." announced Mrs. Weasley with a confused look on her face. Anyone who wanted to reach Harry would have used an Owl or the Floo Network. Harry was just as confused. When he looked at the envelope Mrs. Weasley had handed him, he laughed. The address was the Burrows.

But the return address was 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey.

The Dursleys had mailed him something.

Harry ran up to the room he was sharing with Ron and ripped the envelope open.

In it was a birthday card. On the cover was a bunch of balloons. He opened the card.

Dudley had been the one to sign the card. Harry remembered when the Dursleys had left Privet Drive over a year ago and Dudley had said that he did not think Harry was worthless.

Just to think that Dudley had remember his birthday mad Harry smile. At that moment, he felt the urge to do something that he had always dreaded doing before.

He was going to visit 4 Privet Drive. Willingly.

* * *

The next day, as Harry got ready to go, Ginny intercepted him.

"Ready!" she announced happily. Harry was very confused. He had told the Weasleys that he was going to visit the Dursleys, but he did not expect any of them to come. The last time a Weasley had been in the Dursley household, half of the living room had been destroyed and Dudley's tongue had swelled to the size of a python. Yet, here was Ginny, ready to go.

"Ginny, you're not coming with me, are you?" Harry asked her, very confused.

"Of course. I can't let you go alone and I am your girlfriend. I am obligated to meet your family. So I am coming. End of story." There was no fighting her there. She would have to come along or anyone who got in her way would have to suffer her terrible wrath.

"Fine." Harry sighed. Five minutes later, they apparated to the Dursley's backyard. Harry knew it was safe, for it had a large fence around it, as well as a very impressive garden of rhododendron.

The couple walked around to the front of the house and walked up the front path. Before he rang the doorbell, Harry turned to Ginny and asked her,

"Are you sure you want to do this? You can walk away right now."

"Harry, please," Ginny laughed, "I have been through worse. Your relatives cannot be that bad. I mean really."

"Your funeral." Harry whispered under his breath as he pushed the doorbell. The chimes he had heard so many times over when he was younger rang again. After a few minutes, Uncle Vernon opened the door. He had a pleasant look on his face, the kind you wear when you want to seem polite when you answer the door and you do not know who it is.

When he saw Harry, that look slid off his face. "You." he gruffly said. Harry noticed his uncle's mustache had grown back after the last ime it had been abused. "Why are you here?"

Ginny was very confused about his statement. She had heard terrible stories from Harry's childhood, but she never expected this.

Harry took it all in stride. "Hey, Uncle Vernon. I can't even visit my relatives after not seeing them for over a year?" He asked pleasantly. Vernon took this as an answer and, then turned to allow Harry and Ginny inside. Before he shut the door, he looked up and down the street, as if someone would be watching them and think it abnormal for his nephew to visit. Then he quickly shut the door.

He turned around to find Harry introducing Ginny to Dudley. "Dudley, this is my girlfriend, Ginny. Ginny, this is my cousin, Dudley."

"Nice to meet you," Ginny said politely while she held out her hand to Dudley. Dudley took it and answered,

"Nice to meet you, too."

It was at this moment that Aunt Petunia walked down the stairs. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw who the visitors were. Harry looked up at his aunt. She looked back at him.

Harry saw in her eyes, even for just a moment, a look of love. Harry was stunned by this. When his mind snapped back, he walked up to her and hugged her. She awkwardly patted him on the back. Harry quickly released her and turned to his uncle, who had watched this whole exchange in silence. Harry held out his hand to his uncle in a sort of peace offering.

His uncle, on the other hand, looked at it like it was poisoned. He took it gingerly after a few moments and then quickly released it.

Ginny was still very confused.

Harry led Ginny into the living room and the Dursley's followed. Harry sat down on the couch and Ginny swiftly followed. Petunia and Vernon sat in the two overstuffed chairs and Dudley leaned against the door frame.

"Okay, to be blunt, what prompted you to visit?" Vernon asked rudely.

"Dudley sent me a birthday card. (Vernon looked at Dudley, letting Harry know that he was unaware of this action) I wanted to see how you guys were." Harry answered. He kept his tone very light and conversational. I also wanted to introduce Ginny to you. She went to school with me, so to answer the question I know is coming, she is a witch."

The atmosphere palpably thickened. Petunia was the one to break the awkward silence. She said quietly, "Harry, I have something to give you." With this, she walked out of the room and walked up the stairs. Dudley broke the silence after that.

"So, you doing OK. We heard some...things...about you when we left." The Dursleys had been taken to a safe house last summer and had stayed there until Harry defeated Voldemort. The neighbors thought that they were away, taking care of a sick relative, then deciding to stay after they got better. "Did you really defeat an evil wizard?"

"Yeah. But what about you guys. Are you OK?" Dudley nodded hihs head to answer.

Dudley then turned to Ginny. "So, you're dating my cousin..." He was cut off as his mother came back down the stairs, clutching a faded envelope. She handed it silently to Harry. The envelope felt very light.

After she handed it over, silence fell over the group. Ginny squirmed uncomfortably, then broke the silence.

"We came to make sure you were all okay. I guess we'll go now." She stood up and boldly walked up to Uncle Vernon. She held out her hand and looked at him expectantly. He shook it very quickly without making eye contact. She did the same for Petunia, who looked at her and said good bye very quietly, and for Dudley, who looked her straight in the eye and told her how it was nice meeting her. Ginny then walked out of the room to give Harry a moment with his family.

He looked at them all and said something that surprised them all. "Thank you." Petunia lost it. She started crying and quickly hugged Harry, then ran out of the room and up the stairs. Uncle Vernon said something inaudible and walked into the kitchen and out the back door. Dudley slowly approached his cousin and looked him in the eye. He hugged him and when he stepped back, grabbed his cousin's shoulder and said,

"See ya soon." Harry nodded his head, then walked out of the house with an overly confused Ginny.

When they finally arrived back at the Burrow with the mysterious envelope in Harry's pocket, she burst. Turning on him, she asked, "What in the name of Merlin, is wrong with you family?" Harry just laughed and walked into the Burrow, leaving a ticked off girlfriend standing in the garden. When he realized she was not coming in, he walked outside, kissed her passionately, then left again, laughing. Harry ran up the stairs to the room he shared with Ron. He wanted to see what was in the envelope.

* * *

I hope you liked this chapter. I don't think it's my best. I invite you to sned reviews with suggestions on how to make it better. If I like your suggestion, I might use it.

I would like to point out that there are 31 reviews, yet 36 have this on you story alert. I SEE SOMETHING WRONG!! REVIEW!! IT'S NOT THAT HARD!!

I still do not own the character. If you thought differently, I ask you this. Where have you been living that you have not heard about J.K. Rowling and how she owns these characters? Under a rock?

Thanks for reading!

Defying Gravity


	7. Statutes 29 and 48

Harry raced up the stair to the room he was sharing with Ron. When he got there, he closed the door behind him, sat on his bed, and ripped open the envelope.

Inside, there was a key. Nothing else. Just a small, silver key. It was very simple with no identifying marks on it.

Harry stared at the little key in his hand for about five minutes. He then examined the envelope very closely to make sure he had not missed a note or message. He went so far as to check that there were no messages that had been erased or written in invisible ink.

There was nothing else.

At first, Harry felt very disappointed. He had thought that maybe, just maybe, there had been a letter from his parents inside. He had hoped that his parents had written a letter to him and left it with his aunt for safe keeping. But that was not the case.

But then, Harry realized that the key was a great thing to receive. The key had to open something. Just what that something was, well, Harry did not know. The key was not any kind he recognized.

It was at that moment that Mrs. Weasley called him downstairs for lunch. Harry stood up and placed the key in his pocket.

Harry walked down the stairs slowly and went into the kitchen. Ginny was there, as was Ron, Hermione and Bill. Mrs. Weasley walked in a moment later carrying a large platter of sandwiches. As Harry sat down to eat, Ginny asked him,

"What was in the envelope? A letter from your parents?" She looked at him with a look of great curiousity on her face.

Harry answered her, "No, it was a key. But I don't know what the key is for." He pulled the key out of his pocket and passed it to her. The others in the room did not seem surprised by Ginny's question, so he knew that she had told them all about their visit and the mysterious envelope. Ginny examined the key, but she did not know what it was either. Ron and Hermione did the same, but they didn't have a clue.

It wasn't until Bill saw the key that some light was shed on the mystery.

"The key is a key to a vault in Gringotts. The reason you don't recognize it is because they stopped using these types of keys about 18 years ago. After that, every time someone came in with one of those keys, they were replaced with the small golden ones we use now. There are very few keys like this left. If you have this key, Harry, then the vault it opens has not been unlocked in at least eighteen years. Do you have any idea what could be in there?" Bill asked.

Harry shook his head as he took the key back. He had thought that everything his parents had left him was in his vault.

The group finished lunch, speculating what could be in the vault. They came up with some crazy ideas, but none of them made any sense.

"I guess we will just have to go to Gringotts and find out what's in it." Harry finally said. Immeadiately, Hermione, Ron and Ginny volunteered to accompany him. Harry decided that this was a good idea.

After lunch, the four aparated to the Leaky Cauldron. Tom, the old man behind the bar, welcomed them enthusiastically. They said a quick hello and went to the back of the pub.

Harry took out his wand to tap the bricks, but hesitated. He remembered when he first entered the archway with Hagrid. It was one week short of the seven year anniversary.

Taking a deep breath, Harry tapped the bricks and watched as they turned and twisted into an archway. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny walked into Diagon Alley and what they found amazed them.

The shops were exactly the same as they were years ago, before the war. Harry, Ron, and Hermione remembered what the street had looked like a mere two months before. The streets had been deserted and homeless people were living there. Now, stores were lit and people were chatting away, showing each other their purchases.

When a couple spotted Harry entering Diagon Alley, they ran up to him and bombarded him with questions. Other shoppers soon did the same, trying to shake his hand or just to say hello. Needless to say, Harry was very embarrassed.

The four raced down the street. Harry noticed that, though everything looked great, there were some very subtle changes. Fortesque's Ice Cream Shoppe had a black ribbon in the window. Olivander'e wand makers was still open, but Olivander was not the one running it. The person running it was...

Luna.

Harry, Hermione, Ron adn Ginny quickly stepped into the old store and saw Luna sitting behind the desk. She looked up when the bell rang and smiled when she saw who the customers were. She got up quickly adn hugged each of them.

"Luna, when did you start working for Olivander?" asked Ginny excitedly.

"I started about two weeks after the battle. Olivander still makes the wands, but I sell them. He comes into the shop once in a while, but mostly stays in his workshop." Luna answered, still grinning.

The friends couldn't talk more because a customer holding a broken wand walked into the store. They said a quick farewell and continued on their way.

The four finally reached Gringotts. Before they entered the bank, Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other.

They had broken into this bank. They would be in serious trouble. With a couple deep breathes, they entered the bank.

The minute they entered, lights started flashing and sirens sounded. The other patrons that were gettng ready to enter their vaults or were on their way out stopped dead in their tracks and stared at the newcomers who had set this chaos in motion.

Goblins cornered Harry, Ron and Hermione against the now locked doors. Ginny was thrown into the gathering crowd. The head goblin walked up to the trio.

"You three are being charged with breaking into Gringotts and stealing what does not belong to you." Without another word, three goblins led the trio into an office off the main hall. They sat in chairs placed in front of a large, maple desk. The goblin sitting there stared them down for a moment, then began an interogation.

"You three broke into this institution. Do you have anything to say?"

"Yes," Hermione answered, "We broke in, but it was necessary if Voldemort was to be destroyed." She then went to explain why, but somehow managed to hide the fact that the cup had been a Horcrux. Harry and Ron were lost. They sat there and tried to figure what Hermione was saying, but could not understand how involving Statue 29 and 48 could help. Hermione finished her explanation and sat back, looking very pleased with herself.

Harry and Ron stared at her with a mix of admiration and awe. Little did they know that Hermione had gone to Bill for advice on how to get them out of the situation. Harry and Ron thought she was brilliant.

The Goblin seemed to understand everything she said and was somehow forced to release them. He let them go with a very sour look on his face.

"Thank goodness. These guys are staring at me and it was starting to creep me out." Ginny exclaimed when the trio left the office. She had insisted on waiting for them and was forced to sit on a bench by the door of the office. Security goblins were stationed outside the office so they had been watching her the entire time.

"Hermione is brilliant. She got us out of the whole situation. I am not sure how, but it was brilliant!" Answered Ron. Little did he know that Ginny knew that Hermione had gone to Bill for advice. She just smiled and congratulated Hermione.

Now that everything was settled, it was time to see what was in the mysterious vault. The four approached a counter and the goblin sitting there looked up.

When Harry handed him the key and asked to go to the vault, he looked very surprised. He examined the key very closely and found no identifying marks on it. Only when he performed some kind of goblin magic did he find a number hidden on the key. He asked the four to follow him and led them to where the carts were.

After a very, very, very long trip down to the depths of Gringotts, they slowed down and stopped infront of a vault, number 1091. It looked very old and very dusty.

The goblin, who had never revealed his name, stepped out of the cart and inserted the key in the key hole.

The door swung open and a plume of stagnant air and dust flew out at them. After a round of coughing, the contents of the vault were revealed.

* * *

Cliffhanger!! Muah ha ha!! What is in the vault? You have to keep reading to find out.

I will stop virtually yelling for reviews. I finally got some more!! Yeah for the reviewers!!

But please, let's feep it up. Review.

Thanks to the 39!! people who put me on their storyalert!! 39!! I was freaking out.

I still do not own these characters. If I suddenly owned them, you would know.

Thanks for reading!!

Defying Gravity


	8. Love, Joy, Happiness

The dust cleared and what was in the vault shocked them.

It was another envelope. Harry slowly entered the vault and looked down the the white envelope. His heart leaped when he saw that it was addressed to him.

He quickly picked up the envelope, only to realize that there was more in the vault.

Under the envelope was a jewelry box.

Instead of opening them now, Harry picked them up and carried them out of the vault. The others were surprised when they saw what Harry held. They quickly scrambled into the cart and sped away, rising to the surface world.

When they reached the hall, they thanked the nameless goblin and rushed out the door. Running as to avoid admirers, they made their way down the street and into the Leaky Cauldron. They stopped and ordered butterbeers sod rink while they discussed what to do next.

"So Harry, when are you going to open the box and envelope?" asked Ginny in a very soft voice. Harry still held the small box and envelope in his hands.

Under closer examination did he realize more about the box. It was made of a light wood. Sanded down, the box was silky smooth to the touch.

Harry answered Ginny's question after a moment. "I want to open it somewhere...right...you know what I mean? The vault did not feel right. I think I will open it in Godric's Hollow." The last sentence just slipped out. He did not even think about it. It was like a reflex. The others looked at him, but completely understood. They all finished their butterbeers in silence.

As they got ready to aparate, Ginny asked, "Do you want us with you, or do you want to be alone? We completely understand if you want some privacy." Hermione and Ron nodded their heads in agreement.

Harry wasn't quite sure about what to say. After a moment, he simply said, "I think I want to do this alone."

Ron said, "Ok, see ya later." and the three disaparated, leaving Harry alone in the pub. After a moment, Harry disaparated as well.

* * *

Harry arrived in the woods on the outskirts of Godric's Hollow. He walked to the center of town and stopped in front of the war monument. The monument transformed into a statue of the Potter family. The first and last time Harry had seen this was last Christmas Eve, when he and Hermione came her under the guise of a middle aged couple. Now, Harry could openly stand there, gazing at the cold stone.

As he stared into his parents' faces, he realized that they were smiling slightly, as if they knew their son was about to find out what they had left him. Harry smiled to himself at the thought and walked past them. When he reached the cemetery, he pushed open the gate and quickly found his parents' graves.

White marble, the stone shone in the light. Untrimmed grass grew around it. After a few moments of pulling weeds and cutting long grass, Harry realized that there was something lying at the foot of the stone. It was a note, wet and soggy, but still slightly legible. It read,

_Dear Mr. and Mrs. Potter,  
Your son, Harry, has defeated Voldemort. He did not kill him,  
a spell just rebounded. I know you will never read this,  
but you must know how proud we, as in the whole Wizarding  
community, are of Harry. He has grown into a wonderful young man  
and has a wonderful future ahead of him._

Harry quickly blinked away tears and put the note in his pocket. Yet, as he continued to clean up the grave, he found more and more notes of similar meaning.

When Harry finally finished, he sat on the ground in front of the grave. When he sat down, he felt the box in his pocket. Pulling it out with the envelope, he looked at the grave and whispered, "I finally got it. I am here."

He slowly opened the envelope and pulled out a single sheet of paper. When he unfolded the paper, he read, in his mother's handwriting,

_Dear Harry,  
If you are reading this letter, then Petunia gave you the key after you defeated Voldemort.  
Your father and I are so proud. We may not be there with you, but know that we are always  
with you. We loved you so much and the people around you love you as well. We will  
never leave you. In the box is something we thought you might like to have for later in your life.  
We love you.  
Love, Mom and Dad_

Harry was in tears at this point. He did not remember his parents. He did not remember what they sounded like or what they would say at a time like this. Now, he had something to remember them by. He could almost imagine his mother sitting at their kitchen table, writing this, crying as she signed it.

His mind snapped back to him and Harry remembered the box. Lifting it from the grass where he had placed it a moment ago, he hesitated, wondering what it could be. Undoing the clasp, Harry slowly lifted the lid.

Nestled in velvet, were his parents wedding rings.

With shaking hands, he lifted his mother's ring and noticed an inscription on the band.

_Love, Joy, Happiness_

Looking at his father's ring, he noticed the same thing inscribed on the band.

Harry could not even move. He was transfixed on the rings, the symbols of his parents love.

Harry sat in the graveyard for hours, just staring at the rings, the letter and the gravestone. It was not until the caretaker of the cemetary told him that he was locking the gates in ten minutes that Harry finally moved.

When he was sure that the man was gone, Harry took out his wand and created a ring of white roses. He placed it on his parents grave and said a silant farewell.

On his way out, Harry stopped by the grave of Kendra and Ariana Dumbledore. Harry created a ring of yellow roses, placed it on their grave, and walked out of the cemetery.

* * *

Another chapter is done. That is three chapters this weekend. That is pretty good, if I do say so myself.

Once again, I want reviews. I will not elaborate.

I do not own these characters. DUH!!

Thanks for reading!!

Defying Gravity


	9. Only five days!

When Harry returned to the Burrow, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were sitting at the kitchen table eating dinner. Only then did Harry realize how long he had been gone.

"Hey, Harry", "Hi", "Hey, dude, what's the matter?" The last sentiment was from Ron. Harry was still a little depressed from the letter, thinking that his parents knew that they were on Voldemort's Hit List.

"Nothin'. Just the letter." He answered quietly. No one questioned him.

The rest of the evening was spent quietly. No one asked what was in the box.

Even if they had asked him, Harry wasn't sure if he would tell them what was in it. The rings were personal and he wasn't sure if he wanted any one else knowing about them jsut yet. That night, right after dinner, Harry wandered into the garden and examined the rings on his own. Only then did he realize that his mother's ring was actually her engagement ring as well. It was the kind that, placed next to each other, her wedding ring and her engagement ring looked like one ring.

He was joined by Ginny who had no idea that he had the rings with him. She sat next to him on the bench and looked up at him.

"Are you sure you're okay, Harry? If you need to talk about anything, you know you have me or Ron or Hermione to talk to. You don't have to go through it alone. Never think that. Ever. There are people here who love you and care about you. They want to help you. I want to help you..."

Ginny was not able to finish. Harry had swept her to her feet, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her. She reached her arms up and put them around his neck. The couple stood there, kissing, until Mrs. Weasley called out into the garden looking for them. Then they broke apart and stood there, looking into each others eyes. Harry called back to her, "We're out here, we're fine."

His voice broke on the last word. He was better then fine. He was great.

Unforunately for him, Mrs. Weasley told them to come inside, it was getting cold. Harry and Ginny didn't feel a thing. Yet, they had to get inside.

* * *

The next day, three letters arrived via Hogwarts owls. They were adressed to Harry, Ron and Hermione. They discussed the N.E.W.T. exams. Harry, Ron and Hermione had been very worried about this little matter, seeing how they did not even attend their seventh year. Harry's letter read,

_Dear Mr. Potter  
As you know, you never took your Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests last year. Although you never completed your seventh year at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wirzardry, you are invited to take your exams. The will not be put on your record. Instead, the examiners will evaluate your skills. If improvement is needed in certain areas, classes will be held to teach you the needed training. All of your classmates will also be taking the test. As you can tell, because of the problems last term, the circumstances are different. The testing will be on July 29, five days from now. Please send a response by owl. We need to know if you will be taking the exams. Thank you and have a good summer.  
Minerva McGonagall  
Headmistress of Hogwarts _

Harry read the letter, then looked at his friends. Hermione had a look of set determination. Ron looked...there was no way to describe the look on Ron's face. It was a mix of horror, sadness, annoyance and worry, all with a touch of green.

"Well, I guess we're taking the exams in a couple days." sighed Ron. He never looked forward to exams and alsways saw them as a unnessessary burden given by teachers to torment their students. Hermione, on the other hand, was a different story.

"I can not believe they are only giving us a five day warning. I mean, that does not give us much time! We have to study, NOW!! I know I will not do that well in Ancient Runes, but after tlast year, Defense Against the Dark Arts should be pretty easy. Now, potions. Oh. My. Gosh..."

She could not finish her sentence. Ron and Harry had grabbed her and tied her down to a chair. Ginny had placed a silencing spell on her.

"Hermione. I will take this spell off on one condition. You will not complain about how much time you have to study for the exams. You will ace them all without trying." Ginny told her sternly. Hermione was tied to a kitchen chair, not able to move, silenced from stating her defense, and facing the accomplished caster of the Bat-Bogey Hex. She had no choice but to agree. He nodded her head vigorously. Ginny took the spell off and Harry got rid of the ropes.

Yet, that promise did not stop Hermione from forcing Harry and Ron to study. When Ginny objected, Hermione reminded her that the oath said that she would not complain about how long SHE had to study. It said nothing about hounding Harry and Ron to study. Once again, Hermione's brains got her out of a sticky situation.

Unfortunately for Ron and Harry, Ginny took Hermione's side and went after them to study.

* * *

After five days of cramming, mostly potions for Ron and Harry, the three were sitting in the Great Hall, each at a small individual desk, taking the exam. The first subject was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Harry opened the booklet and read the first question

_Describe the effects of the Patronous Charm and what it is used against._

Seeing that as the first question thrilled Haryr. He took it as a good omen for the rest of the test.

In the end, it did turn out to be a sign. Harry did fantastically. Not only in the Defense Against the Dark Arts section, but the Charms, Transfiguation, Herbology and even potion sections!!

When it came time to actually cast the spell, everyone had to leave the ahll and wait for an examiner to be open. Because of the war, only a few examiners were available to oversee the testing. As students walked out, they were directed straight to the grounds and were prohibited from talking to any one who had not taken the exam. Hermione walked out and gave an encouraging smile to Ron and Harry, but was quickly herded outside by Argus Filch.

Harry's turn finally come. He went to an old examiner in the corner. She had grey hair, many wrinkles and a fierce gleam in her eye. Harry had no doubt that this woman could duel. The woman's name was Olivera Phanto. When she saw who the student was, the edges of her mouth turned upward slightly, but she did not show any other signs.

The first spell Harry had to perform was the Shield Spell. Olivera cast a leg-lock curse at Harry and Harry blocked it with ease. The spell rebounded on its caster only to be rebounded again. When Harry saw this, he performed the spell again and the spell went back and forth, back and forth at least twelve times, until Olivera finally ended the spell. She stood there, looking amazed, until she snapped back and continued the examination. Only then did Harry notice that every pair of eyes in the hall was on them.

He quickly shook himself out of it and continued his examination. Every thing went brilliantly. The last spell Harry had to cast was the Patronous Charm.

Harry roared "Expecto Patronum!!" and the gigantic, snow white stag burst from the tip of his wand. It lit up the room. The stag cantered around the room three times before it finally dimmed and disappeared.

Then, the applause broke out. Only Harry didn't notice. His hand was being shaken by Olivera, who was telling him how she had never seen a better patronous in all her years. That old woman had quite a grip.

What no one knew was that the memory Harry had used was the kiss he had shared with Ginny not even a week before.

Smiling to himself, Harry walked out the Hall to find that everyone else was testing or finished. He walked out of the hall and found Hermione and Ron sitting under the beech tree by the lake. Harry was confused why Ron was finished before he was. They had entered the Hall in alphabetical order. Ron sould have come out after him.

"Ron, how are you out already? You came in after me."

"You didn't know? Olivera Phanto kept you longer than any one else. They opened the doors after you were the only one in there... everyone kind of saw the second half of your exam. She had you do spell that no one else knew how to do. She tested you with the standards they use to train Aurors if they are ready to join the ranks. Harry, you passed that exam with flying colors." explained Hermione.

Harry just stood there and stared at her. He had been tested with the standards for an Auror test. Then the thought came to him...

"How do you know this? I think I would have been one of the people to tell this to." he asked. He had had no idea that this was going to happen.

"We akked Professor McGonagall." said Ron as he stared out across the lake. Harry could not ask him any more questions, for Prof. McGonagall had come out to tell them that it was time to complete the last part of their exam. The Potions section.

* * *

Two hours later, everyone exited the Hall. Harry felt fairly good about what he had done. Hermione, whose hair had puffed up from all the fumes, was worried that she had not boiled the armadillo bile for the full thirty seconds required, but only for twenty nine seconds. Ron would not speak at all.

After a quick trip to Hogsmeade for a couple of butterbeers to cheer them up. The three set off for the Burrow.

* * *

Another chapter. Just so you guys know, I spend all of my free itme typing. What is ironic about this is that scholl is having finals this week. SOoo, I am either studying for finals or writing about them. Personally, these finals sound more fun. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. You will find out what they recieve later on.

Thank you to the 47 people who have me on their Story Alert and for the 64 reviews. My goal is to get 100 reviews. I will not yell at you. But just know that, as I type this sentence, I have my puppy dog eyes on and the bottom lip is quivering.

I still do not own these characters. I never will. Ever. Never ever. OK, time to be happy!!

Thanks for reading !!

Defying Gravity


	10. In the morning

"Harry, deary, I was wondering what you wanted to do for your birthday. because of the wedding last we year, we could not do much, but this year should really be a celebration." Mrs. Weasley told Harry three days before his birthday.

Harry had told her repeated times that he did not want a big party for his birthday. Yet, she would not accept this as an answer.

"Mrs. Weasley, don't do anything much. I really don't want you to go through any trouble."

"Harry, don't worry about it. It's no trouble at all." With that, it was decided that Harry was having a birthday party.

* * *

Hermione and Ginny got in party mode as well. The day before the party, Hermione was transforming the leaves on the all plants in the garden a soft shade of gold. Ginny, who was still not of age, was hanging red streamers all over the yard. She even went so far as to use her broom to fly up to the roof of the house and send streamers to the ground. Once they were all hung from the roof, she gathered the ends on on the ground, picked them up and attached them to a pole on the opposite side of the garden. The result was a ceiling of red streamers.

Harry was not happy about them going to so much trouble, but the mood was starting to rub off on him. He started to enjoy himself more and more.

* * *

The morning of the party, Harry awoke to a pecking at his nose. When he opened his eyes, he found a handsome snowy owl perched on his chest, staring intently at his eyes. Once it saw that Harry was awake, it stuck its leg out, and almost poked Harry in the eyes with its talons.

Once Harry untied the rather grubby note, the owl flew off and perched on the window sill. Sitting up, Harry put on his glasses and looked at the clock. It was quarter to seven. In the morning. On his birthday. Only six hours and forty five minutes after midnight. It was too early to wake up.

But when Harry went back to sleep, the owl attacked him. With a disgruntled sigh, Harry sat up and got out of bed. The moment he was standing up the owl landed on his shoulder. Harry managed to keep it off long enough to get dressed, then the owl took its place on Harry's shoulder again. It was a fight for Harry to be able to brush his teeth and comb his hair.

When he was finally ready, Harry walked downstairs to find the kitchen empty. Thankful that he would not have to explain the presence of the owl, he walked out to the back garden.

He expected the owl to fly away, but it sat sentinel on Harry's shoulder. Accepting that the bird would be attatched to his shoulder for the rest of eternity, Harry unfolded the grubby note. It was from Hagrid.

_Harry,  
Happy Birthday!! When I was thinking about what to get you, I thought  
about how I got you Hedwig on your eleventh birthday.  
I decided to get you this owl for your 18th birthday! I hope you like her.  
Hagrid  
P.S. It's a she_

Harry read the note, then looked at the owl, still sitting on his shoulder. She hooted and playfully nipped his ear. He stroked her head and said to her, as if she could understand,

"I guess you're mine now." She hooted again, as if agreeing. He continued, "Then, you need a name, but what?" Harry pondered this question for a while. He remembered that he had gotten Hedwig's name from a book. Maybe he should do the same with this owl.

Harry summoned Ron's copy of Hogwarts, A History out the open window. It few down from the window and landed in Harry's lap. Opening the book, he noticed that the spine had not been cracked, ever. Ron had never opened his copy.

Harry smiled to himself and went to the index of famous people in Hogwarts history. Reading through the names, one stuck with him the entire time.

Rowena. Rowena seemed to fit. Turning to the owl, Harry asked, "How 'bout Rowena?" She nipped his ear again, almost in agreement.

Harry walked into the kitchen to find Mrs. Weasley and Ginny awake and finishing . When he walked in with a giant snowy owl sitting on his shoulder, they jumped in surprise, but were soon feeding the owl the scraps from their breakfasts. The owl loved attention and got particularly attached to Ginny after she fed Rowena a bit of bacon.

Mrs. Weasley whipped up eggs and bacon for Harry, then went upstairs, leaving Ginny and Harry in the kitchen. There was an awkward silence until Ginny started speaking.

"Harry, I wasn't sure on what to get you for your birthday," She held up her hand to stop Harry from saying that she didn't need to get him anything, "so I asked some people for ideas and I finally got one. But you cannot have it until later. Is that alright?" Harry looked at her like she was crazy.

He did not care if she gave him a birthday present. He was perfectly happy with being around her. In fact, he showed her this by sweeping her into another kiss.

Yet, the kiss was not to be long lived. Harry heard footsteps coming down the stairs and he broke apart. It would be kind of embarrassing to be found snogging the little sister or even daughter of the person coming.

It was Hermione. She saw Harry and Ginny standing there. Being Hermione, she was able to figure out what was going on. She mouthed "Sorry," then raced back up the stairs. The couple stared after her until Harry spoke.

"I know what I want for my birthday. I want to kiss you and not be interrupted."

Ginny laughed and replied, "OK. That's what I get you next year. An uninterrupted kiss."

"Do I have to wait 'till next year?" Harry complained like a three year old. This made Ginny laugh even more.

She stood up to go upstairs and turned to him and whispered, "Nope" in his ear. With a quick kiss on the cheek, she raced upstairs, leaving Harry elated in the kitchen.

Only then did he realize that he still had Ron's copy of Hogwarts, A History still with him. Harry went unpstairs to put it back. When he approached the door, listening closely, he noticed that Ron was not snoring anymore. Harry went to push the door open and found it an inch open. Looking in, he saw Ron and Hermione standing in the middle of the room, snogging.

Harry quickly backed away, his body shaking with silent laughter.

All the omens said that this was going to be a fun birthday.

* * *

Here ya go, another chapter. The next chapter will be about the rest of his birthday. I don't do long, long chapters. I had to split this day up.

Now, I have 76 reviews. My goal is 100. There are 50 of you who have this on their StoryAlert. If you would be so kind as to write a review, it would be much appreciated.

Some of you showed concern how Ron and Hermione did not seem like a couple. As shown in the end of this chapter, they are just not as public with their relationship.

I love you all. Thanks for reading!!

I do not own these characters. If I ever do, you will hear about it everywhere, on the news, the internet, the newspapers. But, sadly, that will never happen. : (

Defying Gravity


	11. Still hand in hand

Okay, I am just going to put a quick author's note before I start the story. People, I have 95 reviews. I want 100. There are over 50 people with this on your storyalert. Not that hard to figure out. I will give the 100th reviewer a virtual hug and a virtual pat on the back!!

* * *

Harry walked away from the room, shaking with the invisible laughter that was close to suffocating him.

It was going to be an interesting birthday.

Harry decided to go downstairs and see if there was anything that he could help with. As he walked down he stairs, he noticed all the family pictures hung on the wall.

The first picture was of Bill and Charlie when Bill was about 5 and Charlie, about 3. The two oldest Weasley boys were sitting in the garden, when it was still close to being almost nearly trimmed. The funniest part of the picture was that they were sitting in a puddle of mud. In the moving picture, Bill was sitting there, making a mudpie, when Charlie plops a mound of mud on his head. A mud war ensues.

The next picture was of Fred and Gearge when they were babies. They were sitting face to face with looks of amazement on their faces. Seeing the two identical looks of amazement was comical.

The third picture was of Percy and Ron. Percy was about 10 years old, only a year before he went to Hogwarts. Ron was 5 years old. Percy was sitting at his desk, writing an impossibly long letter. Ron was standing next to the desk, staring at his brother, and looking bored

The fourth picture was of Ginny. She looked about six years old in the picture. She was sitting on a broom that was way to big for her. She was zooming around the now familiar orchard with a look of unsurpassed glee on her face. Mr. Weasley was also on a broom. He was flying behind her, trying to catch her. Harry laughed when, in the moving picture, Ginny pulled off a series of turns and twists and got away from her father.

The last picture was of a couple of the kids and Harry. It was from two summers ago. The picture showed Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, George and Fred sitting in the back garden. They were all eating ice cream. Harry, George and Fred were laughing at Ron, whose ice cream cone had been punctured by a not so wayward spell sent by Fred's wand. Hermione and Ginny were laughing as well as Ron tried to save the rest of his ice cream without getting more on himself. He ended up sucking on the end of the ice cream cone, looking like an idiot.

Harry smiled at these pictures. He walked down one more flight of stairs and came upon another picture. This one was from years ago. It was a picture of Harry and Ron during the summer before their second year at Hogwarts. They were laughing at some unknown joke. Seeing himself before the war brought back so many happy memories.

Harry continued down the stairs and walked into the kitchen. He could smell the aroma of his birthday cake baking in the oven. Mrs. Weasley had stepped out for a moment. He went outside to find Ginny in the garden. She looked as if she was about to disaparate and her back was to the backdoor. Harry ran up behind her and covered her eyes with his hands.

"Guess who."

"Oh my gosh. Gwenog Jones of the Holyhead Harpies came to my house to play a joke on me!!" She said with very fake excitement. She laughed and turned around, giving Harry a quick peck on the cheek.

"So where are you going?" asked Harry.

"I was just going to take a break and run to Diagon Alley. I need to get Bill and Fleur an anniversary gift." She replying.

"Oh No!" exclained Harry as he smacked his forehead. "I need to get them something, too. But I have no idea."

"That's alright. Come with me and we'll get something together."She said, smiling.

Harry ran to get his money and ran to join her. Taking each other's hand, they disaparated and left for Diagon Alley.

* * *

The couple aparated into the backroom of the Leaky Cauldron. Harry tapped the right bricks with his wand and the minute the archway appeared, what seemed like every person on the street rushed up to them to wish Harry a happy birthday. In reality, it was every person on the street. The two, still holding hands, fought their way to a small shop that Harry had never noticed. It looked squeezed between two shops. The reason Harry never noticed it was that it was next door to the Quidditch supplies shop.

The little shop was called 'Dreams'. WHen Harry walked in, he saw that it was the kind of shop that sells frames and stuff. Ginny led him over to a corner that had little silver frames for sale. SHe picked up one from a shelf that was eye level. It would hold a seven by ten inch picture. It had little small inspirational sayings on it. It looked perfect for an anniversary present.

Ginny looked at the price and whistled. She placed in back on the shelf and looked at Harry. "It is way above my price range. The only thing was, I really wanted to get this for them." She went to look at smaller frames.

Harry immeadiately picked up the frame and announced, "We're done. Come on." Ginny raised an eyebrow, obviously asking for an explanation. "Well, if we are going to buy them a present together, this is well within our price limit." He explained, saying it slowly as if talking to a four year old. Ginny smiled, lightly slapped him on the arm, and they walked over to the cash register.

The cashier looked up from her magazine and when she saw who the customer was, her jaw dropped and the magazine fell on the floor, forgotten. She was about five foot, seven inches. She was thin and had very, very, very blond hair. Her over glossed lips popped together again.

"How can I help you, Mr. Potter?" she asked in a flirty way. There was an obvious, barely hidden second meaning to this question.

Ginny, not liking the flirting, answered. "WE would just like to purchase this frame." She put a lot of emphasis on 'we'.

The cashier looked at Ginny. The staredown started. Harry got very scared, knowing that his girlfriend was an accomplished caster of the Bat-Bogey Hex.

"So just this, if you don't mind." He said quickly, trying to get out of the store as fast as possible.

"Oh, anything's fine." the girl answered. She slowly made the sale, all while flipping her hair. Ginny started tapping her foot impatiently.

When the girl finally finished, she smiled and said in a very seductive voice, "I hope to see you again, Mr. Potter."

That made Ginny snapped. In her sweetest vioce, she told Harry, "Come on, HONEY, we have to get home." She emphasised the word 'honey' and grabbed Harry's hand. She led him out of the store, leaving the cashier to stare after them.

Now with a new purchase under him arm, Harry was led out of the store. There were not as many people surrounding them, but some new arrivals appeared.

Those new arrivals were reporters. They started snapping pictures of the couple. Harry did not like the attention, but Ginny was unpurturbed. She still held Harry's hand thanked him quietly.

"Thanks for letting me get that frame. I know they will love it. But now, if we do not get home soon, mom will have a cow." She then gave Harry a quick peck on the cheek, which sent the paparazzi wild. They started flashing shots of the couple as they walked through the archway, still hand in hand.

* * *

Another chapter, done. If I do say so myself, I have been very productive so far this week.

As always, I would like reviews.

**I have a question for all you readers. I want you to Personal Message me if you like Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, Les Miserables, anyone of them, all three of them, or a combination of the three. I just want to know.**

Thank you to the 54 people who have put this on their story alert. Also, thank you to those countless others who put this story in their favorite stoies, or me in their favorite author and author alert.

A special thanks to HyperLily, eliee.yeah, and Professorchris, who are some of my best reviewers.

I still do not own any of these characters. I never will.

Defying Gravity


	12. Beetle

_Hey, party peoples!! Sorry about not writing another chapter sooner. I had to study for my Spanish final, then the Bio SAT II, which I am taking as a freshman. _

_I know some of you had problems reading this story. If you ever have any problems or questions, Personal Message me, and I will see if the problem is in my document._

* * *

Harry and Ginny disaparated from the back room of the Burrow. They arrived in the orchard.

"Why did we come here? Weren't we aiming for the garden?" Harry asked, very confused.

"Silly, you think they Kingsley would let us have your birthday party without protection spells? They were put into use today." Ginny said in a matter of fact tone and started to the Burrow. Harry walked behind her.

When they neared the Burrow, Ginny started walking in a different direction.

"Ginny, where are you going? The house is this way." Harry asked, once again confused.

Ginny answered in another matter of fact tone. "You aren't allowed to see the back yard until the party." With that, she started running, laughing as she went.

Harry, who was also laughing, followed her. He caught her around the waist and whispered in her ear. "Ginny, what are you doing?"

She did nothing but laugh, then neatly flipped Harry over her shoulder. He landed on his back in the bushes. He gaped at her as she straightened her shirt and flipped her hair.

"I grew up with six older brothers. I learned how to fight." She then walked off, leaving Harry to stare after her.

He quickly stood up, dusted himself off, then followed her. He did not catch up with her until they were in the front yard. She was about to let herself in.

She turned around when she heard him approaching. Ginny saw him and made a face. When the look on Harry's face became very confused she walked over and pulled something out of his hair. It was a beetle.

Ginny went to flick the bug into a tree, but Harry grabbed her arm and stopped her.

He had seen those speckles that so resembled a certain reporter's glasses. Harry grabbed the beetle and held it tight as it tried to fly away.

"HERMIONE!!" He called into the house. About five seconds later, Hermione ran from the house her wand out and ready. Ron came right after her, with his wand ready as well.

When they saw that there were no Death Eaters or attackers outside, they lowered their wands a bit, but had them still ready.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione asked in a very concerned voice. She was still very concerned when he lifted the fist that encased the beetle. (May I point out that Harry is not crushing the beetle!! He is just holding on to it.)

It was not until Ginny ran, got a jar, and Harry put the beetle in did Hermione understand.

Her face became a set mask of anger. She pointed her wand and muttered incantations under her breathe. The beetle flew out of the jar and levitated in midair.

Almost immeadiately, the bug started to writhe, as if in pain. It started to grow as if it was a tree in fast motion. Harry had seen this once before, when Sirius and Lupin had forced Peter Pettigrew to transform back into a human.

The tranformation ended and Rita Skeeter was standing in the middle of the front yard of the Burrow, surrounded by chickens, and still suspended with her toes three inches off the ground.

She was giving Hermione a very angry look. If looks could kill, Hermione would be dead. Harry saw how much Rita's appearance had changed since the last time he had seen her. The last time, she was in disarray, nails chipped, hair limp, and rhinestones missing from her glasses.

Now, she looked all put together. She had aqua blue nails, curlier than curly hair, and had found some place that fixed those glasses. Even worse, her robes matched her nails.

"Rita Skeeter. Why am I not surprised that you broke your promise and are back to transforming to get your stories?" asked Hermione in a very unHermione-ish, acidic voice. Harry walked up and stood next to Hermione.

"Well, you stupid girl, in case you have..." Rita didn't get a chance to finish. By calling Hermione a stupid girl, she was attacked by a series of hexes, including the Bot-Bogey Hex. Skeeter writhed in discomfort for a moment until all the hexes were taken off.

"Rita, in case you haven't noticed, you are in no place to insult us." stated Harry, speaking in a tone appropriate for a kindergarden teacher.

"Fine. Well, in case you have failed to notice, Harry has not done a single interview since the battle. Sooo, I thought, 'his birthday party could be a really interesting story. I bet I could sell a LOT of copies of a special edition Daily Prophet.'" Rita finished and snapped her jaws shut.

At that moment, Bill walked out of the house. He had a bucket of chicken feed under his arm and a disgruntled look on his face.

When he saw Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny wth their wands out, and Rita Skeeter floating in the middle of the yard, he dropped the bucket and yacked his wand out of his back pocket.

"Ron, what's going on here?" He asked his brother.

Ron whispered back, "Rita Skeeter was trying to sneak into the Burrow. She is an unregistered Animagus and can turn into a beetle. Now, Hermione is mad at her for breaking the promise that she was forced into." When Bill gave him a very confused glance, Ron continued. "See, during the Triwizard Tournament, Skeeter was getting all her stories by transforming and getting into people's private business. When she didn't get a good enough story. She made it up. Well, Hermione caught her and made her swear to never do that again. Now, Skeeter broke the promise. And Hermione is mad. And Hermione is not...nice...when she's mad."

Bill finally caught on and nodded his head.

Hermione and Harry were debating what to do with Skeeter, the whole while, Skeeter was floating there, giving very, very, very angry looks at everything.

Harry called Ron over. "Dude, why aren't you over here? We want your opinion, too."

Ron was...surprised, to say the least. His friends friends had always been the "smart ones".

* * *

Two hours later, Hermione, Harry, and Ron returned from the Ministry. They had left Rita Skeeter in the capable hands of the Ministry of Magic. They were VERY interested in learning that she was an unregistered Animagus. They were not quite sure what they were going with her. Someone suggested that a Trace be put on her.

Anyway, Rita Skeeter was out of their hair. Harry did not have to worry about her writing a book about him, which was his biggest fear. The last book she had written had left Dumbledore's reputation in the mud.

So, the three got back to the Burrow at about 4 o'clock. The party was going to start in an hour!

* * *

Sorry about getting kinda off topic. I know that some of you are going to go after me about cutting details and not giving descriptions. Please do!! I welcome these comments with open arms.

Thanks to the 58 people who have this on story alert and to the people who helped write the 107 reviews. OK, my new goal is to get another 100 reviews. You 58 people, write a review, if you would be so kind. That way, in two chapters, I will have another 100!! Yeah!!

I don't own the characters. I never will.

Thanks for reading!

Defying Gravity


	13. As Music Softly Played

_Before I start the chapter, I am sorry that I did not update sooner. I have been doing a lot of volunteer work lately._

* * *

It was time for the party!!

Harry and Ron walked down into an empty kitchen. A bit put off, they walked out into the back garden.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HARRY!!" At least 50 people yelled. All of Harry's friends were there, along with some unexpected people.

Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout, Olivander, and Kingsley Shacklebolt were all there, along with Olivera Phanto, who still looked menacing and tough, though with a small smile on her face.

Harry was immeadiately stormed by well wishers and friends. After about half an hour of people coming up to him and wishing him a happy birthday, Harry was finally approached by Olivera Phanto. She gave him a quick hello, then got to why she was at the party. Phanto was not the kind of person who beat around the bush.

"Mr. Potter, as I am sure you know, I tested you at your N.E.W.T. exams much harder than other examiners tested your peers. If you are not aware all ready, the standards I tested you with were the same as what we test our Aurors with. You passed with flying colors. With your resume and test scores, you could, right now, become an auror without training. You are the first person to do this in history, but that seems to be your gift, being the first in history." At this point, she smiled, surprisingly, and continued, "The Auror office is in need of some...organization, if you will. You are the lead candidate for the job as head auror. Now, of course, you will learn some things before you actually take over, but the position is in need of filling. I will need your answer by the middle of August. Any questions?"

She looked at him expectantly, but he was too shocked to answer. His jaw had dropped at 'you could, right now, become an auror'. Olivera Phanto chuckled at his incredulous look, shook his hand, and walked away.

As she walked away, Prof. McGonagall intercepted her. Questioning her peer, Prof. McGonagall inquired as to why Harry, who still had yet to move, was so shocked. At Olivera's reply, she did a very uncharacteristic thing.

She burst out laughing, startling the people around her. Olivera Phanto left the party with a very satisfied look on her face.

Harry, who seemed to take a while to come over shock, was, yet again, still oblivious to those around him. He was still shocked at what had just happened. He had been offered a place, the head place nonetheless, in the Auror office. He was being offered the job of reorganizing the Auror office. His mind did not snap back until Ginny was standing in front of him. She was waving her hand in front of his face and whispering, "Earth to Harry Potter. Come in, Harry Potter."

He finally looked at her, smiled, and grabbed her around the waist. He kissed her, not caring who saw. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, though not quite sure why they were kissing in the first place. Harry kept twirling her as they kissed, until...

Cheering. All of the people at the party were cheering wholeheartedly. Harry stopped and slowly lowered Ginny to the ground. Only them did Harry notice what she was wearing.

Ginny was wearing a black and white dress, red heels, and had on a red bracelet. Her hair was arranged in a pony tail at the nape of her neck and flowed down her back in shiny waves. Her makeup was very simple and accentuated her big, brown eyes and perfect lips.

Ginny, once again, had to bring Harry back from the depths of his thoughts. With her speechless boyfriend in tow, Ginny slowly walked to the familiar field, only it was not familiar any more.

When Harry stopped appreciating how pretty Ginny was, he noticed that the field was being changed. Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout were finishing up. Thye had conjured a dance floor in the orchard. With a flick of his wand, Prof. Flitwick made music come out of nowhere. Candles, not unlike the ones that floated in the Great Hall, were suspended in midair above the dance floor.

With their tasks completed, the teachers made their way to where Harry and Ginny were standing.

"Happy Birthday, Harry." said Professor McGonagall. "The dance floor and music will disappear when you will it to. Enjoy it. You've earned it." With a quick "farewell", the teachers left, conjuring lanterns on their way.

As they walked away, Harry saw that they were leaving a lantern every six feet or so, leaving a trail to follow.

"So, want to tell me what that kiss was about? Not that I'm objecting. It's just that you were talking to that lady, then you were shocked about something. Then you kiss me." Ginny asked. She put her arms around Harry's neck as they began to very slowly dance to the music comin from nowhere.

As they danced, Harry explained everything about the exams and the offer. Ginny was very happy for him at the end of his explanation and kissed him. They stopped dancing and just stood there. Then a very old tradition was followed...

Ron walked in on Harry and Ginny kissing.

Ron and Hermione had followed the lanterns and found Harry and Ginny kissing. Ron turned very red, rubbed the back of his neck, and looked away.

He was spared his embarressment when Luna, Dean, Neville, Parvati, Seamus and Lavender walked into the circle of light thrown by the floating candles. They stopped short when they saw the dance floor and heard the music playing from, seemingly, nowhere.

Harry and Ginny started to dance again, and so did their friends. Ron and Hermione danced very close, as did Luna and Dean. The song was slow one. Neville and Parvati, Seamus and Lavender, both couples were not as lovey-dovey as the others, but they still seemed to be having a good time.

As the song ended, Harry wished that a faster song would play, and it did. Seemlessly, a faster, more upbeat song started. His friends were caught offguard when the music changed so drastically, but immeadiately moved with the beat. It seemed that the charm Prof. Flitwick had put on the music changed the music depending on the music Harry wanted to play.

As time went on, more couples came to the dance floor. George and Angelina Johnson started to dance, as did Percy and his girlfriend Penelope Clearwater. Lee Jordan started to dance with Katie Bell.

After a while, Bill and Fleur made their way to the dance floor. They did not do any fast dances, no matter what the music was. The whole time, they slow danced in each other's arms.

Soon, the adults who had been at the party came. Some, such as Olivander and Kingsley decided to sit on the sideline. Others, such as the Weasleys, were out on the floor with the younger generation. When another slow song came on, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley impressed everyone, including their own children, with a very elegant waltz.

But, what surprised everyone most was Neville. Once the clumsy, awkward boy, he could no dance very well. He had many female admirers after he had slain Nagini. They all lined up to dance with him.

During a break in the music, Neville walked over, looking very pleased with himself. "Harry, I guess that, since you and Ron are unavailable, the closest thing to a hero the girls could find is me." This made Harry laugh and insist that Neville was a hero.

The party went long into the night. At around 9 o'clock, Mrs. Weasley made an announcement that there were refreshments in the back garden. Everyone gathered around a large cake in the shape of an owl. Mrs. Weasley had remembered Rowena and Hedwig when she had decorated the cake. As the cake was being cut, a long 'hoot' cut through the air.

Rowena glided to rest on Harry's shoulder. A shout of excitement went through everyone, for they knew how much Harry had loved Hedwig and how much he would love Rowena.

Rowena did not mind the attention. It seemed that this owl loved the attention. Hedwig had not basked in the praise as this owl did now. Rowena would fly from one shoulder to another.

After another hour of talking and dancing, people started to go home. As everyone left, they would walk up to Harry and say goodbye and make him promise to have another one of these dances again. Everyone had had a blast.

The last people to leave were Luna and Dean. They were hand in hand as they walked through the gate and up the path to the Aparation safe zone.

As soon as everyone left, Ron and Hermione went inside the house, leaving Harry and Ginny outside... alone...

They went back to the dance floor. Alone, they started to slow dance as music softly played in the backround. They said nothing as they danced. After about half an hour in each other's arms, Harry stopped. The music stopped and Ginny looked up at Harry. Hary whispered in her ear, "I think we sould get back to the house. Your brothers will be worried."

"Then let them worry. I can take care of myself." Ginny answered with a smile. She knew how lucky she was to have five older brothers there to look out for her. "But I guess you're right. But first, I have to give you your birthday present."

"Ginny, you know you did not have to do that. You've given me all I could ever want." Harry objected.

Ginny did not answer. Instead, she led Harry to the edge of the field. She guided him along the trail until they reached the old broomshed.

Ginny disappeared inside for a moment, then emerged with a flat box. It was wrapped in white paper with a gold ribbon and bow.

She wordlessly handed it to Harry. Before he opened it, he pulled her onto a nearby bench left from the party. They sat down and Harry pulled off the ribbon. Slowly, he undid the paper to find a white, flat box.

He slowly opened it.

* * *

Hahahaha...cliffhanger!! Muah ha ha ha. Okay, just kidding. Here's the rest of the chapter.

* * *

He slowly opened the box. Inside was a book. It was Gryffindor Red with a gold stripe running down the right and bottom edges. It was simply titled, Friends.

Harry opened it to find a picture of himself and his friends. It had been taken in their second year. The next page was a picture as well. In fact, the book was an album of pictures from his years at Hogwarts. The further he went in the book, the later the pictures were taken. There were pictures from the train, the Common Room, the hallways. There were even a couple of his friends fooling around on the Quidditch Pitch.

"I looked everywhere for these pictures. Most of them were taken by Colin Creevey. His brother gave me copies of the pictures. Others are from your friends and their parents. I even got a couple from the reporters who had been hanging around the school during the TriWizard Tournament. They were very willing to give over the pictures when they heard they were for you. Soo, do you like it?"

Harry looked at Ginny as if she was the stupidest person alive. "Ginny, of course I like it. No. I don't like it. I LOVE it. And I love you." To prove it Harry kissed her and she kissed him back. And a tradition was broken.

No one interrupted their kiss.

* * *

_Soooo, like it? I couldn't give you another cliffhanger. That would be cruel, especially after not updating in a while. As I said in the beginning of the chapter, I have been doing a lot of volunteer work._

_Review, if you would be so kind. Review especially if you like the present. I will tell about other presents later._

_Thanks to the 65 people who put me on their StoryAlert, to those who put this in their Favorite Stories, me in their Favorite Authors and AuthorAlert, and to the people who are reviewing._

_I would like to reach 200 reviews this chapter, just so you know._

_I still do not own the characters, J.K. Rowling does. If they belonged to me, you would know. But, since they don't..._

_Thanks for reading!_

_Defying Gravity_


	14. Time To Think

_It was hard to write a chapter as good as the last one, so here's my attempt. Please don't kill me when you don't like it._

* * *

It was the day after the party. Everything was quiet around the house. No one was awake. After the late party, no one was going to get up until at least 10 o'clock.

Harry awoke at ten thirty. Ron was still snoring in the bed next to him. Harry quietly got out of bed and left the room. As he walked down the hall, he noticed that he was one of the few people awake. Each time he passed a bedroom, inside which a Weasley brother was sleeping, a deep snoring reached his ears. It was not until he reached the kitchen that he realized that he was not the only one awake. Ginny and Mrs. Weasley were seated at the kitchen table, drinking pumpkin juice.

Harry walked up behind Ginny and noticed that she was looking at the Daily Prophet. Harry also realized that his and Ginny's picture was on the front page.

The headline was simply **Love and Peace. **The picture had been taken the day before, in Diagon Alley. Ginny was whispering something in Harry's ear, then kissing him on the cheek.

By a quick scan of the following article, Harry could tell that the first half was speculation about what Ginny was saying, what they had bought in the little shop, and if Harry had proposed.

The second half was about Harry and Ginny. It was all about how they had met, that they had been together in Harry's sixth year, the Quidditch team they had both been on, and so on and so forth.

The last paragraph said,

"Now that Mr. Potter has found love,  
will there be a Mrs. Potter in the near  
future? Will there be children in his  
future as well? Only time will tell. We  
can only hope that the future is kind  
to our young hero."

"Ginny, are you okay?" Harry asked her very quietly. She nodded her head very slowly and stood up. In a trance like state, she walked out the back door. It was only then that Harry that she was fully dressed.

Harry thought about following her, but decided against it. Ginny needed some time to herself.

It was only then that Harry looked at Mrs. Weasley. She showed no outward signs of emotion, except sadness as she watched her daughter walk out the back door.

"Mrs. Weasley, is Ginny okay? I am really worried." Harry stated very softly.

"This article shook Ginny up. She just needs some time to think."

But in reality, it was Harry who needed to think. He ate a quick breakfast, got dressed, then left. He thought about where to go, then decided to go his first home.

* * *

Harry aparated to the gates of Hogwarts. He walked through them and made his way up the path.

Surrounding him were reminders of the battle that had occurred over two months before. The stone boars that guarded the entrance were headless. New grass was filling in the patches of dirt where craters had pocketed the earth. Hagrid's hut was gone.

Harry first walked to the war memorial. Brilliantly shining in the sunlight, it was a reminder of those who had died. To the right of the monument was the cemetery. Harry noticed that there was someone kneeling at the foot of a larger gravestone.

Harry could not tell who it was. Not wanting to startle him or her, Harry was going to walk by and come back later. Instead, a baby started crying. Only then did it become apparent that it was a woman kneeling and holding a small child.

The woman was Andromeda, the baby was Teddy, and they were at the foot of Tonks and Lupin's grave. Andromeda looked as if she had been crying. Teddy was crying.

Seeing who it was, Harry walked over and gently touched her on the shoulder. She jumped, but seeing who it was, immediately relaxed.

"Oh, Harry. I'm sorry. It's just that I found some pictures of Dora, and I felt like I needed to come here. And now..." she couldn't finish as she silently started to cry. Harry knelt down beside her and put his arm around her shoulder.

"I know. It's okay. Is there anything I can do?" he said as he consoled her.

"Well, I don't think Teddy really wants to be here..." she whispered.

"How about I take him for the day. You need a break anyway." Harry had babysat, but had never taken his godson for a whole day.

"Okay." Andromeda whispered. She carefully handed her grandson and his diaper bag. "Everything you should need will be in here. If you have any questions, I will either be here or at home. How about if I pick him up at the Burrow around eight? I really need to get some things done."

Harry nodded. He hoisted the bag over his shoulder and picked up the baby. He said a quick good bye to Andromeda and left the cemetery. He decided that he could think later. Right now, he needed to spend time with his godson.

As Harry walked to the gates of Hogwarts, Teddy stopped crying. Instead, he studied the face of his godfather.

The little boy, at the moment, had purple hair, brown eyes, and round cheeks. When they reached the gates, Harry realized that he could not Aparate back. He was not sure how old you had to be to Side-Along Aparate safely, but Harry did not want to risk anything.

After a moment of deliberation, he decided that his best option would be to walk to Hogsmeade and buy some Floo powder there. Harry started the trek to the wizarding town. He walked along the worn path, the path taken by so many students ready for a day free from studying and lessons.

As Harry walked, he realized just how pretty the surrounding woods were. Teddy still did nothing except gaze at the person carrying him. Teddy seemed to understand that Harry was his guardian. He still had the purple hair and a confused look on his face.

By the time they reached the village half an hour later, Teddy's hair was pitch black, his eyes green, and his cheeks more flat. He looked exactly like Harry, just in baby form.

Of course, where Harry Potter was, reporters were not far behind. Within ten minutes of Harry walking into the village, photographers were shooting his and Teddy's picture. Harry had put a silence bubble around himself and the baby, so they could not hear any of the questions that the reporters asked.

Teddy was fasinated by the people talking to him noiselessly. He seemed to understand that his picture was being taken, for he was smiling and waving.

Teddy still looked like Harry's son. Not hard to figure what the newspapers the next day would say.

Harry finally reached the Three Broomsticks. Taking refuge in the popular hangout, Madame Rosmerta let him in the back room. She gave him Floo Powder, refused money when he tried to pay her for it, and showed him to the fireplace.

Harry stood before the fire. Looking at his godson, who still greatly resembled him, he asked, "So, Teddy, are you ready to get praised, cooed at, held, and everything else Mrs. Weasley, Hermione and Ginny will do?"

Teddy just laughed.

"The Burrow!" yelled Harry and he stepped into the fire.

* * *

Another chapter is complete!! Yeah!!

Okay, I want reviews. I will not say any more than that.

Thanks to everyone who put this on their StoryAlert, Favorite Story, or me on their Favorite Author and AuthorAlert.

I do not own these characters. But now I realize that I own Olivera Phanto. She is my character. Hahaha

Thanks for reading!!

Defying Gravity


	15. It's just a thought

Harry walked out of the fireplace in the Burrow's kitchen. He has quite mastered the art of Floo-ing with falling or breaking his glasses...or both.

The minute he was out, Mrs. Weasley bustled into the kitchen to see who would show up at their house so early in the morning and uninvited.

The minute she saw Harry and Teddy, she called into the living room, "It's Harry and Teddy!!"

She was not even finished with her sentence when Hermione walked down the stairs into the kitchen. She saw Teddy and immediately walked over.

"Hey, Harry! Why do you have Teddy?" she asked as she took the little boy from Harry so he could put the diaper bag down.

"I saw Andromeda at the cemetery. She did not look up to caring for Teddy for the day, so I offered to take him. I hope that's okay, Mrs. Weasley?" He asked as a last minute thought. He turned to Mrs. Weasley, knowing what her answer would be.

"Harry, of course that's okay. We have not had a baby in this house for many years." she assured him as he took Teddy from Hermione. Teddy still looked as if he could be Harry's son.

It was at this moment that Ron decided to make an appearance. He walked down the stairs, still looking tired, but fully dressed.

"Hermione..." he whined, "Why did you have to wake me up? I am allowed to sleep in. And I did not appreciate that spell that shocked me every time I tried to go to sleep." He shut up when he saw that Harry and Teddy were there. "Hey, Harry! I've got something to ask you. Why did you have to talk in your sleep all night?" he asked as he walked over and took Teddy.

"I talked in my sleep? I don't remember having any bad dreams. I just remember..." Harry trailed off. He did not want to finish his thought. In reality, he had spent all night dreaming about Ginny. Of course, he was not going to say this in front of her brother and mother. Or in front of her for she had just walked in the backdoor.

Ginny looked completely normal. Not what you would expect after being shaken up by a newspaper speculating about you and your boyfriend.

"Teddy!" she squealed as she quickly walked across the kitchen to take the little boy from her brother.

"You okay, Ginny?" Harry asked very timidly.

"Yeah. I'm okay." she answered as she smiled up at him. Taking this as a good sign, Harry kissed her on the top of the head.

Teddy, seeing this, changed his appearance. His jet black hair suddenly had red highlights, his eyes became the shape of Ginny's, and his cheeks became a little more round. He could have been Harry and Ginny's son.

Very awkward.

Although Teddy didn't think it was awkward in the least. He started giggling and laughing.

Harry laughed nerviously and looked to see how Ginny would react. She softly laughed and looked at Teddy. Even though the newspaper article had shaken her up, Ginny seemed to have bounced back. Harry thought about how much he really loved her.

She and Hermione started playing with the little boy. They took him into the backyard, which had magically been cleaned overnight. Amazing what you can do with magic.

This left Harry, Ron, and Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley laughed and walked up the stairs.

"Hey, Harry, what did that Phanto lady say to you last night during the party? I saw you looking like you were smacked in the back of the head with a bludger."

"Oh, that." Harry explained the job offer to his best friend.

"Dude, that's great!! Head of the Auror Office! That's like, phenomenal! Are you going to take the offer?" Ron asked.

"I think so. I need something to do, now that Voldemort's gone and school's over. Do you know what you're gonna do?"

"I...don't know. There was something, but..." only at Harry's insistance did Ron continue. "Well, George is going to reopen the joke shop and he's going to need some help... so I was thinking about joining him."

"That's good. What does Hermione think?"

"I...haven't told her yet. It was just a thought."

"Dude, you should tell Hermione. She is your girlfriend after all."

"Yes, Ron. In case you have failed to comprehend the fact, I am your girlfriend." Hermione said as she walked in. Event though she questioned Ron's intelligence, she was forgiven when she kissed him on the cheek. Hermione was holding Teddy.

Teddy's appearance was different, yet again. His look seemed like an mix between Weasley traits and Hermione. His hair was a brownish red, eyes a chocolate brown, and a few freckles along the bridge of his nose. Now, he could have been Hermione and Ron's son.

Ginny walked in at that moment. She immediately walked over to Harry, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Before he could react, she ended the kiss, looked at him, and said, "Sorry about this morning. It's just, the article..." Harry cut her off.

"I understand. You don't have to apologize. Just, be ready for tomorrow. When I picked up Teddy at the cemetery at Hogwarts, I decided to go to Hogsmeade and use the Floo network instead of Aparating. Well, I walked into the village, and I was attacked by reporters. They saw me with Teddy...and Teddy still looked exactly like me. There might be a thing in the paper tomorrow."

Harry stopped and took Teddy from Hermione. The minute Harry held him, Teddy turned back into Harry and Ginny's son. Again, very awkward.

"Harry, it's okay." Ginny looked around and saw Hermione's and Ron's feet disappearing up the stairs. "I understand." Her eyes landed on Teddy. "You know, Harry, if we get married and have kids, they could look exactly like Teddy does now." She laughed and promptly blushed.

Harry whirled her around and kissed her. They were interupted by Teddy, who grabbed Ginny's hair as she kissed Harry.

This left the couple to persude a baby to let go of Ginny's hair.

* * *

Another chapter. Whew. I hope you enjoy it. There will be better chapters later on. I promise.

Thanks to the reviewers, StoryAlert-ers, FavoriteStory-ers, AuthorAlert-ers, and FavoriteAuthor-ers.

Review, por favor.

I don't own these characters, except for Olivera Phanto.

Thanks for reading!!

Defying Gravity

So if you care to find me, look to the Western sky! As someone told me lately, Everyone deserves a chance to fly! And if I'm flying solo, al least I'm flying free!! To those who'd ground me, take a message back from me!! Tell them how I am defying gravity!! I'm flying high, defying gravity!


	16. Ron, relax!

_Hello, my minions! Sorry about the wait. If you look to the right of your screen, you will notice the little scroll bar. Now, that bar is very big. Sorry about the short chapter. I need to get this part out of the way and I have no more ideas for this part. Thanks!!_

* * *

Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione spent the rest of the day playing with Teddy, who was still changing his appearance. Finally he decided to make his hair his "happy color" , a bright, bright turquoise. He still had Harry's eyes.

* * *

About an hour after Teddy arrived, Ron was holding him.

Then, Ron noticed a smell. A very, very, very bad smell.

"Hermione! Something's wrong with Teddy! He smells really bad!"

Hermione walked in, very calm, as she watched her boyfriend freak out. "Ron, relax. Teddy just has a dirty diaper. The diaper bag is in the living room."

Hermione went to the living room, soon followed by Ron, who kept his face turned away from Teddy. Ginny and Harry were in the living room talking when Ron and Hermione walked in.

"Hermione, why is Ron acting like Teddy is radioactive or something?" asked Harry. He was very concerned that there was something wrong with his godson.

Hermione answered him with a quick, "Dirty diaper."

"Yes, you need to change him, Hermione." Ron said with a serious sense of urgency. He quickly tried to hand over the baby, but Hermione just smiled and refused.

Ron turned to Ginny, but she gave him a look that said, "No way. No chance. Change him yourself."

In a last ditch effort, he turned to Harry with a pleading look on his face. "Come on, mate, he's your godson."

Harry just laughed and replied, "Sorry, but no."

Ron sighed and looked at the baby he was holding. Teddy, in a stroke of baby genius, changed his appearance to that of Ron's. Complete with freckles, red hair, brown eyes and a long nose. Ron could not refuse and leave the baby to sit in...well, you know

Twenty minutes later, Teddy had a fresh diaper, turquoise hair, and Harry's eyes. Ron, it turns out, did not know how to change a diaper.

It took three tries, Hermione's help, and a bubble head charm for Ron to change it.

* * *

Around 3 o'clock, they were banned from the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley was going to start cooking dinner for that night. It was Bill and Fleur's anniversary and they were celebrating with the family at the Burrow.

Another two and a half hours and a conjured babyseat later, the family sat around the table, with Harry on one side of Teddy and Ginny on the other. Knowing that he would probably be the center of attention, Teddy was very, very well behaved. Mrs. Weasley had made a superb roast beef dinner and apple cobbler for dessert.

Bill and Fleur had arrived twenty minutes earlier. Bill's arm was around Fleur's waist and she was positively glowing.

About halfway through dessert, Bill and Fleur stood up.

"We have an announcement," said Bill. Bill put his hand around Fleur's waist. Everyone was very still. "We're going to have a baby!!"

Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, and Ginny squealed. Ron had a dumbstruck look on his face. All the other men congratulated them.

It took twenty minutes for everthing to calm down. Five minutes after that, Bill and Fleur left with the well wishes of everyone.

* * *

Andromeda arrived at the Burrow promptly at eight. She thanked Harry profusely as she picked up her grandson.

"It was fun. Next time, though, tell me when you want me to take him." Harry told her. She looked as if she had gotten some sleep and looked refreshed.

"Okay. Next time, I'll tell you. I never realized how much good a day off would do for me." she replied as she swung the diaper bag over her shoulder. "Anyway, thanks, Harry." She looked at Teddy, who had Harry's appearance. "I love this little scamp, but he is a handful."

"Any time you want, I will take him. He is my godson and I want to be part of his life." Harry thought about Sirius, and baout how he did not even know about him until he was thirteen.

* * *

"I can't believe they're having a baby!" whispered Ginny as she and Harry stargazed in the field.

"I know." whispered Harry. They had no idea why they were whispering. There was nobody around. The only sounds were the rustle of the wind in the trees, the soft hoot of owls, and the soft music Harry had conjured.

The couple sat under the stars, staring at either the night sky, or the person lying next to them.

* * *

I am so sorry about the short chapter. I need to get it out of the way so real drama can start.

Thanks to the list of people mentioned in earlier chapters.

I do not own these characters. They belong to J.K. Rowling, and the last time I checked, that was not my name.

Thanks for reading!! I will update as soon as I can.

Defying Gravity


	17. On The Way

_Hey, guys!! Sorry about the wait. I have been kind of out of it (I have been having problems with the muscles in my back). But all better now!! _

_So...On with the story!!_

* * *

Chilly winds whipped through Harry's hair as he dead leaves rustled around his ankles. The stone boars seemed to glare at him as he walked past them. His destination, the tall, foreboding castle in front of him, loomed forward in the darkness.

It was late November. Harry had accepted the offer of the head Auror job. He remembered the first day.

_It was the 21st of August. He had been the official Head of the Auror Office for a week. His first task was to see how bad the Aurors were operating after the corruption of the Ministry. He had called a meeting of all the remaining Aurors; those who had not been killed, not had their minds obliterated, and had not quit after they had free will again._

_Harry had waited in one of the training rooms in the Ministry. Slowly, other people filtered in and took seats around the room. At the appointed time, eleven o'clock, the last few stragglers rushed through the door and took seats. The chairs placed around the edge of the room were filled._

_The last to enter the room was Olivera Phanto. She had told Harry that she was going to sit in on the meeting and observe._

_Harry stood at the podium that had been placed at the front of the room. _

_"Hello, everyone. You are here to be tested in your skills. Not that I don't think you all are competent. It's just that, with all that has happened, I want to examine every point of the office to make sure everything is running at tip top shape. Any questions?" Harry looked around expectantly._

_A man sitting in the corner stood up. "Why are you the one here? Shouldn't the Head of the Office be here?" He said rudely. It seems that the Ministry had not released that Harry was the new head of the Auror Office._

_"Sir, may I ask your name?" Harry siad politely._

_"My name is Tom O'Leary. I have been working in the Auror office for over 20 years." He replied rudely. He crossed his arms over his chest. He had an intimidating physique. His biceps were straining against the T-shirt sleeves that were restraining them. He was wearing worn jeans and black boots. He looked to be around 55, but in very good shape for 55. His hair was thinning in the back, but he combed all his hair back to cover it._

_"Well, Mr. O'Leary, I am the new Head of Office." There were gasps of surprise and a few shouts as well._

_"What! You are not even 19 years old!" "You did not even finish your last year of Hogwarts!"_

_Harry took these outbursts, some of which had come from Mr. O'Leary, with patience. He knew these would come. That was one of the reasons that he had not mentioned it in the few, short interviews he had given (all with respectable, non-gossip reporters, of course)._

_"I am sorry that you do not like it, but I was offered the job and I accepted. So, for now, please keep anything you want to say until the end of the meeting. _

_Now, we start. I will ask you to come up one at a time and we will duel. It will test your defensive skills and offensive spells. Now, do we have any volunteers who would like to go first?" Harry looked around._

_At first, no one moved. Then, someone volunteered._

_It was Tom O'Leary._

_The older man stood up and approached Harry. They went to the center of the room._

_The two wizards raised their wands, saluted each other, and walked apart. Olivera Phanto stood of to the side. _

_"Wands at the ready!" she called to either side of the room. The two wizards raised their wands and nodded to Phanto. "Ready!! Begin!!" she called._

_Immediately, O'Leary sent a Stunning Spell at Harry, who blocked with amazing speed. O'Leary was forced to block his own spell, then block the Body-bind spell that Harry had sent immediately after. O'Leary sent one more spell at Harry, who, once again, blocked. Harry then sent a series of six spells at him. O'Leary blocked the first two, then was caught by the third spell, a Body-bind curse. _

_Everyone around the room stared as the young wizard approached his opponent. Harry was not even out of breathe, and yet, he had beaten the best dueler in the office._

Harry remembered how the rest of the duels had been down hill from there. No one had been able to beat him. After a test in Potions, Harry had made his mind about the office.

It needed a lot of work.

Harry kept walking up the path, his hands in the pockets of the black cloak he was wearing, his breathe coming as a white cloud.

He remembered the last time he had ridden up this path in the Thestral pulled carriage. It had been back in his fifth year.

Harry thought about how he had been stopped in his sixth year. No reason to go back to that memory.

Instead, he thought about how he had accompanied Ginny to Platform 9 3/4 a little over two months ago. Of course, her parents had gone with them.

_Harry had helped Ginny carry her trunk onto the train, and tried to ignore the face pressed against glass as he passed the compartments. He had seen old friends: Luna, Peakes, Cootes, and so many others._

_It had felt strange being on the train without actually going to Hogwarts._

_Ginny entered the compartment where she saw Luna sitting. Harry heaved the very heavy trunk to the shelf and turned to his friend. _

_"Hey, Luna! How are you doing?" Harry asked._

_"I'm fine, thanks. How about you?"_

_"Good. See ya." _

_True, Harry did not speak long to Luna, but he had seen her when he had gone to Diagon Alley. She had continued the job in Olivander's as a summer job and might take it permanently after the school year was out._

_Harry walked off the train, closely followed by Ginny. _

_Ginny ran up to her parents, kissed them on the cheek, gave them a hug, then returned to Harry._

_"So...I guess we won't see each other everyday." she said sadly. Taking a chance to cheer her up, he said,_

_"Don't worry. I'll write and send pictures and everything. Besides, you'll be too busy to remember me." he joked._

_"I don't think so." she whispered. "Well, good bye, Harry." she finished. She turned to board the train._

_Harry, on the other hand, was not going to let her go like that. He grabbed her wrist, twirled her aroun, and kissed her, not caring how many people were watching._

_They broke apart when people all around them started whistling and cheering. The train whistle blew. Ginny slowly pulled her wrist out of Harry's grasp, a smile on her face._

_"Bye, Harry. I love you." she said as she walked up the stairs._

_"I love you, too." He told her. She smiled, then disappeared to find her seat._

Harry thought about it fondly as he neared the castle.

He and Ginny had written to each other frequently. He had visited the castle every once and a while on official Auror business and had, thanks to a certain magical map, had been waiting around the corner when Ginny had been on her way to lunch.

She had squealed and hugged him tight. They had spent lunch and Ginny's study together.

Harry finished the business while she had Transfiguration. After that, they were free for the rest of the night, for it was Friday and Ginny could do her homework the next day.

The one thing Harry did not like was Romilda Vaine's look of hatred towards Ginny and the look of longing towards Harry.

That all had been before Quidditch season.

Now, Quidditch was on and Ginny was the new Gryffindor captain. Her team worked hard and was the favorite for the cup. The first game had been a couple of weeks ago and the team had been superb!

It was now that Harry reached the stone steps to the front door.

Harry had that night off and was going to surprise Ginny with a romantic dinner by the lake. He had even checked that there was no Quidditch practice that night and no Quidditch game tomorrow.

And even though it was cold, Harry had a special spell that would make a circle of warmth around the couple as they ate the food in the picnic basket that Harry had stored in the small bag Hermione had given him for his birthday.

It had the same spell she had on the small, blue, beaded bag that had come in so handy the school year before.

* * *

_Well, this chapter was to make up for the wait and the short, previous chapter. I hope you like it!_

_Please review. You all should know how much I love them. And...I ONLY NEED 9 MORE TO REACH 200!!_

_I do not own these characters. You should all know that by now. _

_Thanks to all those people I usually mention._

_Thanks for reading!!_

_Defying Gravity_

_"Unlimited...my future is unlimited!" _


	18. Amethyst and Diamonds

Harry walked up the stone steps of the castle, thankful for the rush of hot air as the doors opened for him.

As he walked into the Entrance Hall, rubbing his hands together, he saw that a few students were walking into the Great Hall, about to have an early dinner.

A few of the students said "hello" to him as he cut through the crowd to reach the opposite end of the hall. He climbed the marble staircase, ignoring the stares that followed him.

He finally reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. It was then that he realized that he did not know the password.

The Lady saw his disappointment and immediately spoke up. "Mr. Potter, why are you upset?"

"Well, I don't know the password and I was going to visit my girlfriend..." he was cut off by the portrait swinging open. He looked up and the Fat Lady grinned.

"Mr. Potter, you are always welcome in the Tower. I wouldn't make you give me a password."

He thanked her and stepped through.

A few people seated around the entrance noticed him. Before they could make a sound, Harry put his finger to his lips. They clapped their mouths shut and returned to their homework, small smiles on their faces.

Harry scanned the room. After a moment, he saw a red head with a long ponytail sitting by the fire. She turned her head and Harry saw her profile. It was definitely Ginny.

He slowly made his way through the room, repeatedly putting his finger to his lips. Everybody got the idea.

When he was behind Ginny's chair, her friends noticed Harry and waved. Harry gestured for them to remain quiet. Luckily, Ginny had been looking at her book and had not seen her friends strange behavior.

Harry put his hands over Ginny's eyes. "Guess who." He whispered in her ear.

"Harry!" she squealed as she stood up, ran around her chair, and hugged him. Harry hugged her back. "Harry, what are you doing here?" she asked excitedly.

"Well, I was thinking that I could take a certain red head on a picnic." He whispered in her ear. "Don't worry, it won't be cold."

"But, I have to tell Profesor McGonagall." she said as she turned towards the door.

"Don't worry. I told her. And she said that it was perfectly fine and to have fun."

"Oh. OK." Ginny said with a surprised but happy look on her face.

"So, shall we?" Harry asked as he put his arm out.

"Let's go!" But instead of linking arms, she grabbed his hands and pulled him through the crowd.

They were about to reach the portrait when...

Romilda Vaine stepped in front of them.

Putting a sweet-to-the-point-of-making-those-around-you-barf smile on her face, she sidled up to Harry.

"Harry! I haven't seen you in the longest time. How are you?" she asked, the scary smile still glued to her face.

"Hi...Romilda." Harry said, a bit uncomfortable as Romilda took a step towards him. Harry grabbed Ginny around the waist and pulled her next to him.

"Hello, Vaine." said Ginny in a don't-mess-with-me-or-you-will-die-a-very-painful-death tone.

Romilda took one more step towards Harry.

Harry, in return, pulled Ginny in front of him.

"Can we help you, Vaine?" said Ginny in a flirt-with-my-boyfriend-and-you-will-rue-the-day-you-were-born.

"Well, actually, can I speak to Harry alone?" Romilda asked in a he's-not-your-boyfriend-for-long tone.

"No. Anything you can say to me can be said in front of my girlfriend." stated Harry in a strained voice, getting ready to break up the oncoming fight. Ginny nodded, giving a go-jump-of-a-cliff look to Romilda, who was obviously flirting.

"I was just going to say that I saw you in the Daily Prophet. It was announcing that you were the new Head of the Auror office. That must have taken a lot of work." Romilda said. She fluttered her eyelashes, which had way to much mascara on them. She made a sudden move.

She reached out her arm and traced her finger down Harry's arm, shaking her hips seductively.

That set Ginny off. Big time.

Ginny screamed, "You skank!!", lunged at her with her wand out, and got halfway through the incantation for the Bat-bogey hex before Harry grabbed her around the waist and covered her mouth with her hand.

"Now, Ginny. Calm down, alright. You don't want to get in trouble." He whispered.

Romilda looked terrified and fled up the stairs to her dormitory.

Harry guided Ginny out of the Common Room, very much aware of every eye watching them go out.

Harry nudged the portrait open with his foot, still keeping a hand around Ginny's waist and one on her mouth.

The portrait swung open and Harry took Ginny out.

He slowly took his hand off Ginny's mouth and instantly regretted it.

"THAT COMPLETE WHORE!! IN FRONT OF ME, YOUR GIRLFRIEND!! I AM GOING TO KILL THAT..." Ginny was cut off.

Harry kissed her and she immediately stopped.

Little did he know that the portrait had not swung shut yet and every person in the Common Room, including Romilda Vaine who had just come down the stairs, was watching him snog his girlfriend.

He did realize it when they all started cheering.

Harry and Ginny broke apart, their faces red with embarrassment.

Harry held out his arm one more time. Ginny linked arms this time and they slowly walked down the stairs, catching up with each other.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, they were sitting by the lake. Harry had activated the warmth spell and brought out the picnic basket.

The first thing he took out was a container of Caesar salad. He pulled out two bowls and quickly transferred the salad into them. He pulled out two bottles of water and two bottles of butterbeer.

He passed a salad and a bottle of each drink to Ginny.

"Enjoy, my dear." he said.

"Thank you."

They didn't get down two bites before they were making out on the blanket.

Needless to say, they did not eat much that night.

It was not until dessert that they actually finished a course.

Harry pulled out a box and opened it.

There were two cannoli. Ginny squealed and reached for one. She picked it up, but Harry stopped her.

"No. How about you take the other one." he said.

Very confused, Ginny complied. Two bites in, she found out why he wanted her to take this one.

Hidden in the shell was a small box.

Ginny took out the box. It was clean of cannoli filling, obviously saved by the Impervious Charm.

She opened the box to find a ring. It was gold with a heart-shaped amethyst surrounded by small diamonds.

Ginny gasped. Harry reached for her hand.

"Ginny, I love you." He kissed her on the neck as he slid the ring onto her finger.

The spent the rest of the night, well, at least until Ginny had to go back inside, making out underneath the full moon.

Alas, it was not the engagement ring, but it was a step.

* * *

And thus another chapter ends. I hope you all liked it.

The links to see the ring are on my profile, as is the link to see Lily's engagement/wedding rings.

The characters belong to the great J.K. Rowling.

Review, if you would be so kind.

Thanks for reading!!

Defying Gravity

"Don't wish, don't start. Wishing only wounds the heart."


	19. A World of Their Own

Harry sat in the field by the Burrow. Ginny was going to arrive at Platform 9 3/4 tomorrow.

Harry had missed her so much. He had written to her and all, but he had not seen her for what seemed like ages.

Because of his job and her exams, he had not been able to visit her at Hogwarts.

Out of his back pocket, Harry pulled his mother's engagement ring out of his pocket.

He had it in a small, flat, unbreakable box and had carried it around with him for the past month.

Since the last time he had seen Ginny.

Harry, in a storm of emotion, grabbed the broom that lay beside him in the grass.

_It was two days day after Harry's birthday. A long box arrived, wrapped in gold paper. A small card was stuck under the white bow._

_Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione sat around the box in the field. _

_Harry reached for the card. The four had no idea who had sent the present. Hermione and Ron had their wands out, ready to blow the package up, if need be._

_Harry opened the card slowly. _

_The minute it was open, it grew. The card expanded to be a square card, two feet by two feet. Harry reopened the card._

_With its large size, it was very awkward to hold. Putting it on the ground in front of him, he saw that the entire thing was filled with very small writing. _

_In the top, lefthand corner was a message in a slightly larger handwriting. It read,_

_Dear Mr. Potter,  
Happy Birthday! You are probably wondering what this package contains. A collection was taken at the Quidditch Supplies Store. The money was put towards a birthday/thank you present. We, meaning the WIzarding World, hope you enjoy it._

_The rest of the card was filled with signatures and small notes wishing him a Happy Birthday._

_In pure silence, Harry lifted the lid of the box. _

_Inside was a broom. The most spectacular broom Harry had ever seen. _

_The handle said it was a Firebolt 2.0 _

Harry flew to the Burrow. The wind whipping against his face brought him back to the present.

Harry arrived in the back garden in record time. He walked into the kitchen to see Mrs. Weasley, Fleur and Victoire in the kitchen.

"Hello, Harry." greeted Fleur as she picked up her golden ahired daughter.

"Hey, Fleur. Have you seen Mr. Weasley around?" Harry asked.

"He's in the attic, dear." said Mrs. Weasley as she gave Fleur a recipe. Fleur and Victoire left using the Floo Network after a quick, "See you later."

Harry calmly walked up the stairs, only pausing to put his broomstick in his room, Charlie's old one.

"Mr. Weasley?" called Harry through the hole in the ceiling, or attic floor rather.

Harry just recieved a round of coughing as a reply.

Mr. Weasley descended the stairs. Dust had settled in his hair and on his robes.

"Sorry about that. How can I help you Harry?" Mr. Weasley asked as he brushed himself off.

"I wanted to talk with you about something. Can we talk now?" Harry asked as he followed Mr. Weasley down the numerous flights of stairs to the kitchen.

Before they got to the kitchen, Harry thought about how he was going to state his question.

When they reached the kitchen, Mr. Weasley filled a glass with water and sat at the kitchen table.

"Are you feeling all right?" asked Mrs. Weasley, who was still standing there. "You look a bit peaky."

"I'm fine, Mrs. Weasley. I just need to speak with you and Mr. Weasley about something, if that's okay."

"Of course." She took off her apron and sat next to her husband.

Harry sat across the table from them, still not sure how he was ask them.

Deciding to take the plunge, Harry took a deep breathe and said,

"CanImarryyourdaughter?", too quick for anyone to understand.

"Beg pardon?" said Mrs. Weasley, confused, but with a hint of excitement in her eyes.

"I was wondering if," Harry paused, taking a big breathe, "I could ask Ginny to marry me."

Relief started to ebb into his body, knowing he had gotten the question out.

More washed into his veins as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley burst into smiles.

Mrs. Weasley bustled around the table to give Harry a rib cracking hug as Mr. Weasley shook his hand and said, simply,

"Of course."

"I am not quite sure when or how I am going to ask her, but I just wanted to know that you were OK with it." Harry said, his heart filled with a warm, fuzzy feeling.

* * *

Harry stood at Platform 9 3/4, waiting for the train to arrive. The people around him were whispering and pointing, but he didn't care.

He was going to see Ginny.

His heart leapt when he saw the engine rounding the last bend.

Not moving fast enough, the train slowed to a stop.

Harry strained for a glimpse of Ginny.

He finally spotted her as she dragged her trunk off the train. Harry ran to help her.

Not seeing him, Ginny jumped when someone grabbed her trunk.

Seeing who it was, she leapt at him, throwing her arms around him stomach, not waiting for him to put her trunk down.

Harry stumbled, off balance from the hug and the trunk.

He dropped the trunk safely on the platform before embracing her.

Everything was right in Harry's world.

But there was one last task that was left unfinished.

Harry gently pulled away from Ginny, much to her confusion an disappointment.

Harry pulled the little, flat, unbreakable box from his back pocket.

Lowering himself to one knee, Harry grasped the box in his hand.

"Ginny Weasley, I love you and always will. Will you marry me?" He opened to box and showed her the ring that had once been his mother's.

Tears poured down Ginny's face as she nodded, unable to speak.

In an almost out-of-body experience, Harry slid the ring onto the ring finger of her left hand.

Unable to hold it all in, he swept her up, once again, oblivious to his surroundings.

That oblivious-ness wasn't swept away when everyone on the platform started cheering and clapping.

He just kissed Ginny as she kissed him, the two in their own world.

* * *

Sorry about the wait. Feel free to bombard me with your feelings, but please do so in review form.

I also apologize about the lack of details. I know some of you like details. This chapter is mostly about how Harry loves Ginny and all that good stuff, so Harry would not notice anything extra. Does that logic fit?

Thanks to Nightowl999 who gave me some ideas.

Please review.

When I rule the world, I will own this story and its characters.  
But I do not rule the world, sad as it is to admit.  
Therefore, I do not own the characters.

Thanks for reading!

Defying Gravity

Every so often we long to steal to the land of what might happen.


	20. Well, I'm the stranger

_OK, I know you all are coming with torches and pitchforks to attack, but I apologize for taking so long. I have no excuse, but I hope you all forgive._

* * *

Harry slowly lowered Ginny to the ground, slightly aware of the crowd that was gathering. Ginny's feet slowly touched the ground as she looked around. She was still beaming, but her face was starting to turn red as people continued to clap and cheer. She pulled out her wand and pointed it at her trunk, which promptly disappeared, probably reappearing at the Burrow.

"So, do you want to stand around and talk, or head home?" Harry whispered in her ear as people crowded in to congratulate them.

"Can we just wait one minute?" Ginny whispered back. Luna had just appeared from the crowd. Apparently she had heard the good news because she was smiling very happily.

"Whatever you want." Harry said and released Ginny from his embrace. She kissed him on the cheek and ran off, surely to celebrate quickly with Luna. She came back a minute later, eyes shining brightly.

"Now we can go. Now, how shall we tell everyone at home. I mean, Mum will flip. You might get another one of those, 'hurt her and you die,' talks from my brothers."

"It's okay, I already asked your parents if it was okay." he replied. Harry reached for Ginny's left hand. He raised it, the ring shining brightly on her ring finger. "So, shall we?" he asked.

"Let's go." Ginny answered. Harry stopped suddenly, pulled out his wand, and said an incantation very quietly. Everyone around them had a very mystified look on their face.

"I put a spell on them. They will forget all this happened until we tell everyone at the Burrow." Just as the two were ready to Aparate home, Harry pulled Ginny in close. His lips right next to her ear, he whispered.

"And just so you know, your mom did flip out." Then they aparated away, ready to face the crying, cheering, threatening, and all out celebrating that was sure to ensue when they arrived at the Burrow.

* * *

Yet, to their surprise, only her mom was there to greet them. "Welcome home, dearie." Mrs. Weasley said as she gave her only daughter a big hug. "Everyone is coming later to dinner, so you will see them tonight. Your trunk is in your room."

"Uh, Harry, why hasn't she flipped out?" Ginny asked in a worried whisper as the two climbed the numerous stairs.

"Well, I told your parents that I was going to propose, but I said I was not sure when or how. She probably did not see the ring."

"Yeah, maybe not. These sleeves do hide whatever is on your hand." She indicated the large sleeves of the Hogwarts robe as she discarded it on her bed. Underneath, she was wearing simple jeans and black and white striped polo. As the robe slid off the bed and onto the floor, she gasped. "Harry, do you know what this means?" Ginny asked. At Harry's look of bewilderment, she assumed that he did not know what that meant. "Harry, I never, EVER, have to wear that robe again!"

Before Harry could respond, Mrs. Weasley called from downstairs, needing to ask Ginny something. Ginny looked at Harry and asked, "Should we tell her now?"

"If you want to. Or, we could tell everyone tonight at dinner." Harry told her. Ginny agreed that tonight would be better. With the greatest care, she removed the ring and put it in the small jewelry box she had laying on her dresser.

Ginny left the room, leaving Harry alone. Harry walked to the window and saw the magnificent view Ginny had from her room.

'Well, I asked her.' he said to himself. 'And, she said, 'yes'.' Harry thought about how a little over two years ago, he could not imagine this. He had always thought that his life would revolve around catching Voldemort. He remembered that thought he had last year. It was of Ginny marrying a faceless stranger. 'Well, I'm the stranger.'

* * *

That night, the whole Weasley gang arrived at the Burrow.

Hermione was one of the first people there. She rushed up to Harry and gave him a hug. "Hermione, I thought you were in Australia getting your parents. I mean, the Ministry had to have you wait a while before you could restore their memories and you were so excited."

"I already went. I got back only a couple hours ago. I just left Mum and Dad at home. It was really easy finding them. It seems their love of dentistry still remained and they kept in the business. They opened their own place and got started. It was not too hard finding them through the business."

"Hermione!" Ron called from across the garden. With a quick, "See 'ya later." Hermione ran over to Ron, threw her arms around him and kissed him, earning a few whistles from Bill and George.

As he turned away, Harry felt two arms slowly wrap themselves around his waist. "So, when should we tell them?" asked Ginny from behind him. Harry turned around so he was facing her and wrapped him arms around her waist.

"How about during dinner, when everyone is here and sitting down?" Harry suggested. Ginny agreed with a kiss, earning some whistles from Bill and George.

"Must you two whistle every time people kiss?" Ginny asked, breaking away from the embrace. She turned to face her two brothers who were standing to her right.

"No, Ginny, we-we'll stop." stuttered George in fake fear. Luckily, he was spared as Mrs. Weasley announced that dinner was ready. Since there were so many people there, dinner was going to be a buffet and everyone could just eat at the small table around the edges of the garden. Bill went to find Fleur, who had gone with Victoire to the small playground by the side of the house. It had been erected by Mr. Weasley a couple months before hand. George went to find his girlfriend, Angelina, leaving Ginny and Harry alone.

The couple got some food and sat with Ron and Hermione. They were soon joined by Angelina and George.

After dinner, there was a pickup Quidditch match in the field. Harry, Ginny, and Ron were on one team and Bill, Angelina, and George. Charlie had stopped by for dinner, but had not stayed to play. Hermione had decided to keep score and Mrs. and Mr. Weasley just watched. Fleur had taken a sleeping Victoire home.

An hour and a half, a yelling match, and six challenged calls later, Harry, Ginny, and Ron were the victors. They had dominated their slightly older opponents.

Dessert followed the match. Halfway during the treacle tart and chocolate ice cream, Ginny looked Harry in the eye. "Now?" she asked apprehensively.

"Are you okay with now?" Harry asked. She nodded, stood up, and with a 'one second', walked calmly into the house. She returned to a mystified Harry seconds later.

"I had to get the ring." she whispered. She opened her palm to show him that she had it. He took it and slipped it onto her finger. Unfortunately for their surprise, Hermione was sitting across the table from them and had noticed the ring.

"Ginny, is that..." she trailed off, staring at her friends. Ginny nodded, a smile shining from her lips. Hermione silently squealed, but hid her reaction quickly, realizing that it was meant to be a surprise.

Harry looked at his fiance and asked, "Ready?" In response, she kissed him gently. "OK, here we go."

They stood up, getting some people's attention. It was not until Hermione performed a neat little charm that dimmed all the lights did everyone look around, their eyes quickly locking on the pair. The lights quickly turned back on, but everyone's eyes stayed on the couple.

"Well," Harry started, finding his voiced magically magnified. He looked at Hermione, who had her wand pointed at him. "OK, Ginny and I have a announcement." He looked at Ginny to see if she wanted to say it. Everyone at the party had a slight idea of what they would say.

"We're engaged!" she said very excitedly. Everyone cheered and, dessert forgotten, started congratulating them. Mrs. Weasley rushed up and grabbed them both in a rib-cracking hug. Mr. Weasley just smiled and watched as his little girl and her fiance were congratulated. But it was not these two Harry was looking at.

Harry was looking at Ron. He knew his best friend had always felt a bit awkward about Harry and Ginny's relationship. Harry spotted Ron standing behind Hermione's seat. Harry saw, to his relief, that Ron was smiling and cheering as well.

But the smiling did not last forever. Just as Ginny predicted, the Weasley brothers had something to say to Harry. Bill, Percy, George, Charlie, who had come back to the party when he heard about the engagement, and Ron all ganged up on Harry after things had settled down. They pulled him to the back of the garden, leaving Ginny, Hermione, and Angelina to laugh at Harry's worried expression as he was herded.

"OK, Harry. We've had this talk before, and we all know you're a great guy, but we still need to talk." started Bill. Harry sat down on an old stump as the Weasleys made a half circle around him. "OK, you remember the speech from last time, right? Well, just remember that. You got that, Potter?"

The Weasleys took out their wands and crossed their arms.

But Harry could not answer, due to the flash of light that interrupted the threat meeting. Harry looked up to see Hermione there with a digital camera. "Oh, this is so good." Hermione said as she showed Ginny the picture on the screen.

Behind the two girls were the rest of the family, looking very amused. Everyone knew that Harry would be a great husband, but it was still funny to see the five Weasley's gang up on the hero of the Wizarding World.

After Harry was released, he made his way to the field. He pulled out his wand and said a quiet incantion. Suddenly, a dance floor appeared. After another spell, music started to play. The last thing to do was conjure candles that soared into the air as soon as they fully appeared. It was the same setup as his birthday party the year before. The only difference was that the candles, instead of white, were silver and gold.

Before long, everyone was on the dance floor. Many of Harry's friends came, having been told of the party though the gold coins that magically still worked. Fleur returned, having gotten her little sister to keep an eye on Victoire.

Harry chose a slow song to start out. He and Ginny started in the middle of the dance floor, soon followed by other couples.

As he danced, holding Ginny close, Harry looked around and saw his friends dancing. Luna and Dean had come and were dancing. Hermione and Ron were dancing in a corner, looking at each other like they were the only two people on earth. Neville had come and was dancing with Parvati Patil. The two seemed to have started dating and Neville had brought her.

To Harry's surprise, he saw that Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott were there. Ernie saw Harry, smiled andwaved a gold coin. Harry smiled back and returned to his scan of the dance floor. Lavender Brown had come with Seamus Finnigan and they were dancing.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were sitting in two conjured chairs by the edge of the floor. They looked content to just sit and watch the younger generation.

After the first slow song, Harry decided on a song with a quicker tempo. Everyone cheered and started dancing. Neville, who really liked to ballroom dance, looked a bit put off, but soon got into it. But, Hermione and Ron did not stop holding each other and swaying back and forth.

A few songs later, Mr. Weasley left his seat next to his wife. He weaved his way across the dance floor and tapped on Harry's shoulder. "Harry, do you mind?" he asked.

Harry gave Ginny a quick kiss and bowed out. He chose a slower song and made his way off the dance floor. He sat next to Mrs. Weasley.

"Harry, I know you are going to be good to my daughter." Mrs. Weasley told him as she watched her husband and daughter dance. "I can tell that she is so happy when you are around. Thank you." she ended and turned away to wipe tear from her eye.

"No, Mrs. Weasley, thank you. For letting me date and propose to your daughter. I love her so much and now, I cannot believe we are engaged." Harry stopped.

Mrs. Weasley just smiled as the song ended. Mr. Weasley walked over and held his hand out to his wife. "Molly, may I have this dance?" Mrs. Weasley stood up and walked out onto the dance floor with her husband. Ginny walked over and stood in front of Harry. She took her mother's seat and grabbed Harry's left hand.

Harry chose another slow song as he sat with her. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were dancing near the center of the floor. Soon, other couples blocked them from sight.

Ginny held her left hand in front of her, still holding Harry's hand in the other. She looked at her ring, then at her fiance.

"Harry, was this what was in the box? The one in the vault?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, this was in the box. It was my mother's engagement ring." Harry answered her, entranced by her eyes. All he could say then was,

"Imagine the newspapers tomorrow."

Ginny laughed and kissed him, and he kissed her.

* * *

OK, this was a longer chapter then usual, so I hope that kind of makes up for the wait.

Please review. There are 250 reviews for this story so far. I would really love to have 300, or 350, or even 386 reviews.

I do not own the characters. The great and powerful J.K. Rowling is the only one who has the right to say that she made up the characters.

Thanks for reading!!

Defying Gravity

"There's a girl I know, he loves her so..." once again from Wicked.


	21. Twenty six owls and a newspaper

Harry awoke to a hard, painful pecking on his nose. Startled out of the best dream he had ever had, which of course involved Ginny, Harry opened his eyes to find Rowena and seven other owls piled on his chest. He tried to sit up, but more owls just jumped on him from their perches on the dresser, window sill, and headboard. With twenty six birds pinning him to his bed, Harry could not move, lest he be pecked to death in the mad rush to deliver the letters.

Realizing he was stuck, Harry called for help. His wand was on the bedside table to his right, but it would do him no good, seeing how there was a great horned owl perched on his hand.

"UH, SOMEBODY!! I NEED HELP!!" Harry yelled. With nothing else better to do than to wait for someone to come to his aid, Harry closed his eyes and laid back on his pillow. A minute later, he heard frantic footsteps coming up the stairs. Harry opened his eyes, only for Rowena to land on his chin, bend over, and look into his eyes with an unwavering, slightly disturbing stare.

The door to Charlie's old bedroom flew open. There stood Mrs. Weasley. She had her wand drawn, ready to incapacitate the attacker. She did not expect to see twenty six birds pinning her daughter's fiance to the bed. A moment later, Mr. Weasley, Ron, and Ginny appeared in the door way. Obviously, they did not expect to see the spectacle of the hero of the Wizarding World pinned down by a flock of owls.

They stood for a moment, taking in the situation, then, promptly, burst out laughing. Ginny walked over to the bed and sat down next to Harry.

"Good morning, Harry. And how are we doing today?" She asked, barely keeping a serious look on her face.

"Ginny," Harry said, slightly muffled due to the fact that he did not want to move his lips to much because of the large snowy owl perched on his chin. "Will you get these owls off me?"

Ginny's answer was cut off by a flash of blinding light. It was Hermione with the camera.

"Harry, you just keep getting in these situations." she laughed as she clicked the review button and saw a picture of Harry and Rowena.

"Hermione, what kind of camera is that?" asked Ron as he looked at the picture over her shoulder.

"Well, it was a muggle digital camera, but I modified it. All the magical cameras give off all this smoke and are very hefty and hard to carry around." she explained in a matter of fact way as she took a full length picture, capturing all twenty six owls.

"Well, this is all very nice, but I am still stuck!" said a very annoyed Harry. "Will someone please get me out!"

"Oh, sorry, Harry." "Yeah, we'll get them off." "One moment." A chorus of voices answered as they approached the bed.

It turned out, though, that the owls would only get off until they delivered their letters straight to Harry.

After fifteen minutes of wheeling and dealing with the owls, they finally got off, but soon lined up on the furniture. They all left when they saw the pile of letters in Harry's hand.

"Well, that was an interesting start to the morning. I'll open the letters after breakfast." Harry stood up and brushed off the numerous feathers that had accumulated.

During a breakfast of bacon and eggs, a barn owl arrived with a the Daily Prophet. Mr. Weasley paid the owl and unrolled the newspaper.

"Uh_," _Mr. Weasley was at a loss for words.

"What is it, Dad?" asked Ron. He walked to stand behind his father. "Oh." Ron gently pulled the paper out of his father's hand and showed it to the room.

**POTTER ENGAGED!! **was the headline, taking up half the page. The bottom half was split between a picture and the beginning of an article.

The picture had been taken the day before on the platform. Harry was on one knee, opening the small box. Ginny nodded her head and Harry put the ring on her finger, then swept her up in a kiss.

"Aw, Harry, that's so sweet." said Hermione as she watched the movie-like scene. "Ron, what does the article say?" Ron read the beginning of the article out loud.

_Harry Potter, everyone's favorite hero, has found the  
girl of his dreams! Yesterday afternoon, on the well-  
known Platform 9 3/4, Mr. Potter proposed to his  
longtime girlfriend, Ms. Ginevra "Ginny" Weasley.  
Mr. Potter and Ms. Weasley have dated for the last year  
since Harry returned after his exile. They also dated  
for the last months of Mr. Potter's sixth year at  
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The  
proposal was made yesterday, but most did not now  
until last night. A parent took this picture yesterday  
on the platform. Yet, she did not remember she had it  
until last night. No one is quite sure what is the  
cause of this massive loss of memory, but we all  
know we are very happy for the couple._

_For more details, go to pages 3, 4, 5, and 8._

"How do they have enough details to fill four pages?" asked Ginny in shock as she watched herself on the front page of the Wizardng World's most popular newspaper. Ron flipped to page 3.

"Well, it looks like page 3 is a timeline of your relationship, starting with Harry spending part of the summer here before our second year. It even includes the Chamber of Secrets incident, Harry holding Quidditch tryouts, and your famous kiss in the Common Room." Ron flipped to page 4. "Page 4 is... oh, you are going to love this... predictions made by a Seer. The seer says that Harry will be Minister of Magic, you two will have 9 kids, and Harry will lose all his hair by age 27." Ron had to stop and laugh. He handed the newspaper to Hermione as he burst out laughing, as did Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, Hermione, and Harry.

As a joke, Ginny walked behind Harry, who was sitting at the table, as put her hand on his head. "Don't worry. They have magical hair replacement. Everything will be just fine." She laughed as Hermione looked on page 8.

"Uh, gu-guys, page 8 is about all fu-four of us." she stuttered as she scanned the page. "There is a picture of us from last summer at Harry's birthday party."

"Hermione," said Ron, his voice cracking, "what do you mean all four of us?"

"Ron, it has a section about...our relationship. And one about how you and Harry are best friends. And one about how Ginny is your little sister. But there is a picture of us from last February, when we went out to dinner on Valentine's day."

"I'm going to open those letters now. I have a feeling that I know what they are all about." Harry pulled the stack of letters towards him. He looked at the letter on top and recognized the untidy handwriting. "Hey, this one's from Hagrid!"

Harry opened the somewhat dirty envelope to find a single sheet of damp paper. He unfolded it to find the ink smudged from what looked like tears.

**Harry,**

**I heard about the engagement. Congratulations! Can you come for tea sometime? **

**Hagrid**

"Hagrid cried." Everyone knew that Hagrid could get a little... emotional. Harry wrote a quick note saying that he would come over that afternoon and sent it with Rowena, who had perched herself on the kitchen windowsill next to a retired Errol.

The rest of the letters were of similar content, good wishes and all that.

But, that one that surprised Harry was one from...Dumbledore.

"Harry, who's that one from?" asked Ginny, who had joined in and was opening letters as well.

"It's, it's from Dumbledore." Harry stuttered.

"Uh, Harry... Dumbledore's dead. Not to be harsh or anything, but...dead guys don't send mail." stated Ron, who was finishing his breakfast.

"I know." replied Harry. He carefully opened the letter.

_Dear Harry,_

_Congratulations about your engagement! I am sure you and Ms. Weasley will be very happy together. Now, I know you are thinking, "How is a dead man sending me mail?". I had Prof. McGonagall set up a reliable Quick-Quotes Quill. If you need to talk about anything, feel free to come to my office. The new password is "Jelly Beans"._

_Sincerely, Albus Dumbledore_

"So, guys, up to going to Hogwarts with me later?"

* * *

That afternoon, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny arrived at the Hogwarts gates. They swung open and the four walked onto the so familiar grounds. They first went to Hagrid's Hut.

It looked exactly the same as it had before the Battle. Before it had been torn apart and burned.

Harry knocked on the door and took a step back. He heard loud footsteps and the door swung open.

Fang, who had to be at least 9 years old, bounded out the door and jumped on Harry. The dog immediately started licking Harry's ears.

"Fang, get offa' Harry." Hagrid pulled Fang off of Harry, only to sweep him into a bonecrushing hug. "Harry, I remember when you was a baby, and now lookat' cha'. Yer gettin' married!"

"Hagrid, I think Harry needs some air." said Ginny.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon was spent talking with Hagrid, telling him about their jobs and such.

After they left Hagrid's, Ron and Hermione decided to go to Hogsmeade. Harry was not so keen. He didn't feel ready to face the reporters that were sure to be circling like vultures. Instead he wanted to talk to Dumbledore and asked Ginny to go with him.

With a quick, "See 'ya!", Ron and Hermione started down the path the Hogsmeade and Ginny and Harry were walking up the front steps of the school.

"I can't believe I was here only yesterday." Ginny said as they walked up the marble staircase. "It feels so weird to be here, but not as a student."

They did not run into anyone until they got to the gargoyle that guarded the headmaster's office. They reached the gargoyle just as it was closing.

Neville Longbottom was exiting the office. "Harry! Ginny! Congratulations! I never got a real chance to talk to you last night, but it was a great party. I just had a meeting with Professor McGonagall and and Professor Sprout. They want me to take the post as Herbology teacher!" Neville looked as if he was going to burst.

"Neville, that's great! You're going to take the job, right?" asked Harry as Ginny gave him a quick hug.

"Of course. Well, I've got to go. See 'ya." Neville waved as he walked down the corridor.

"That's so great. Herbology was always his favorite subject." said Harry as they approached the gargoyle. "Jelly Bean."

The gargoyle sprang aside to reveal the staircase to the office. Harry and Ginny walked up the staircase to the old wooden door. Harry knocked and it was answered by Professor Sprout.

"Harry, Ginny! Congratulations! I read about it in the paper." said the gray haired witch. She passed then and descended the stairs.

Harry and Ginny walked past her to see Professor McGonagall sitting at the desk. She looked up when she heard the door close. "Mr. Potter, Ms. Weasley. Congratulations on the engagement!" When she said the word engagement, all the sleeping past headmasters and headmistresses awoke immediately and started shouting their congratulations. When everything died down, McGonagall started again. "So, how can I help you two?"

"Actually, We just needed to speak with Professor Dumbledore. If that's okay." said Ginny.

"Of course." was the answer they got. Professor McGonagall quickly gathered up some papers and left down the staircase. Behind the desk, Albus Dumbledore was smiling from his portrait. His blue eyes were twinkling and a smile crinkled the skin around his eyes.

"Hello, Harry, Ginny. Congratulations on your enagement. You two will be very happy together. Now, how can I help you?" he asked, his eyes shining brightly.

"You read the paper, right?" asked Harry, still not quite sure why he was there. he just had a feeling that he needed to come.

"Yes, I did. I may be dead, but I do like to keep up with the times. I am very intrigued, though, by the mysterious loss of memory that occurred on the platform yesterday." He looked down his crooked nose in a I-know-you-did-it-Harry look.

"Yeah, well, I just had a feeling that I needed to come, you know, say hello and all. Just my intuition and all." Harry said, very embarrassed that he did not have a certain reason for coming.

"Well, your intuition was right. Ms. Weasley, may I speak to Harry in private for a moment?" Ginny nodded and walked out the wooden door. Before it swung shut, Ginny smiled at Harry and he got that warm, fuzzy feeling inside. In a sudden movement, the occupants of the other portraits stood up and walked to different portraits. Even Snape, but not after a very annoyed and disgruntled look.

"Harry, dear boy, I do have something to tell you. This may not be particularly interesting for you, but bear with me. You proposed to Ms. Weasley the moment she got off the train. Your father did the same thing." At Harry's look of bewilderment, Dumbledore continued. "The minute your father got off the train, he waited for your mother to exit. He stood on that platform and when she got off, he proposed in almost the exact way you did yesterday."

Harry was stunned by this fact. He knew he had always been like his father in many ways, but never like this.

"Harry, there is one more thing. Reach under the top of my desk. You will find a small knot of wood. Press on it."

Very confused, Harry did just that. He found the rather deep knot of wood and pressed on it. The edge of the desk swung off on a hinge. It left a very thin compartment. "Harry, summon the letter that is in there." said Dumbledore. Harry did just that. A square envelope flew out of the slot. Taking the envelope, harry saw his name on it.

"Harry, before your parents died, they asked that I would give this to you, if you ever became engaged and they were not around."

Harry was lost for words. His hands shook as he held the letter.

"You do not need to open it now. But if you would like." Dumbledore stood up and walked out the side of his portrait. His head popped back a moment later.

"Professor, if you don't mind..." Harry trailed off.

"Of course, Harry." Dumbledore left.

With shaking hands, Harry opened the envelope. Inside was a single sheet of paper, not folded or anything, just a four by four sheet of white paper. It read...

_Harry,  
If Dumbledore has given this to you, it means you  
found the girl you want to spend the rest of your life  
with. We are so happy at the thought of you finding  
the girl you love. We love each other and hope  
you have the same.  
Love, Mom and Dad_

_P.S. I really hope you use the rings! Love, Mom._

* * *

An extra long chapter. I hope you all like it.

Woollongong Shimmy, don't worry, it's coming.

Please review!

I still do not own these characters. If I suddenly did, you would hear about it. Trust me.

Thanks for reading!

Defying Gravity

"The Wizard and I!"


	22. I Guess They Read Page 8

_Hello, everybody!! OK, this chapter is dedicated to Wollongong Shimmy. Does this fill your HGRW quota?_

* * *

Ron and Hermione walked through the town of Hogsmeade. They had just left Harry and Ginny at the castle. As they meandered through the streets, the couple looked into the shop windows, not really looking for something. More enjoying each other's company.

"I'm so happy for Harry and Ginny. They are so great together." Hermone said as they passed the abandoned Zonko's Joke Shop. Zonko's had gone out of business after Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes had opened a Hogsmeade shop.

"Yeah, awesome." said Ron in a quiet voice. He walked with his hands in his pockets, staring at his feet.

"Ron, what's the matter?" asked Hermione in an exasperated voice.

"It's just... Harry's my best friend and Ginny is my little sister. It's kind of strange, thinking that they fell in love. I mean," Ron stopped, trying to sum everything up.

"Ron, I understand." Hermione said as she put her hand on his arm. "But they are so happy together. Would you rather Ginny marry someone you didn't like? I mean, she did date Micheal Corner for a bit. Would you rather it be him?"

"Uh, no." Ron said, realizing that it could be much worse. "You know how much I love you? You make everything seem so much better." Ron swept Hermione up in his arms and kissed her. She kissed him back, but not for long.

They were interrupted by a bright flash of light. Reporters and photographers were gathering around them. Photographers kept taking pictures and the reporters started yelling questions.

"Mr. Weasley, how do you feel about your sister and best friend getting married?" "Ms. Granger, how do you feel about the match?" "Are you two engaged as well?"

The last question was the end of it. Hermione yanked out her wand and quickly froze the crowd.

"Hermione, how do you do that?" asked Ron with a look of relief. Hermione started walking around the circle, erasing everyone's memories of the last few minutes and fiddling with the cameras.

"There, now there are no pictures or memories." she smiled with satisfaction. "Come on, they unfreeze in thirty seconds. We need to get out of here." Hermione grabbed Ron's hand and started running down the street.

They dodged into the Three Broomsticks just as the crowd unfroze. With very confused looks, they slowly meandered off and resumed their posts, ready to pounce on anyone who could have any interesting say about anything.

Ron and Hermione just then turned around to see everyone in the pub looking at them. Ducking their heads, they quickly found a corner in the back.

"We don't have drinks. I'll get them. Right back." Ron said with a sigh. He stood up, ready to fight the crowd of people keeping them in the corner of their eye. All the people in the pub had obviously read page 8 of the Daily Prophet that morning.

"Ron, wait." Hermione said. She pulled him down and reached into the small purse she was carrying. She pulled out an Invisibility Cloak. "Here, use this."

"Hermione, why do you have Harry's cloak?" Ron asked, confused but happy all the same.

"I put a spell on this purse, Harry's wallet, and the wallet you will receive soon. They all have a pocket that leads to a vacuum which contains all these kind of things: the Cloak, the Marauder's Map, Decoy Detonators, the works."

"Hermione, have I ever told you that you're brilliant?" Ron joked as he donned the Cloak.

"Yes, I think you've mentioned it a few times." Hermione said. She laughed as Ron, now invisible, whispered in her ear.

"You're bloody brilliant. I love you." He uncovered his head and kissed her on the cheek. Hermione laughed as his head floated in mid air.

"Honestly, Ronald, the purpose is to remain hidden. A floating head will only draw more attention." He recovered his head. A few minutes later, two Butterbeers suddenly appeared on the table.

"Okay, I got the drinks invisibly and threw some money on the counter. I think Madame Rosmerta noticed. Actually, I am pretty sure she noticed because she whispered, 'Enjoy' when there was no one around." Ron added as an afterthought. He handed Hermione her drink, then took sip of his own. "Hermione, about that question the reporter asked us. About being engaged."

"Yes?" Hermione asked, wondering where this was going.

"Well, nothing." Ron quickly stopped and took a gulp of his drink.

"Honestly, Ronald, what is it?"

"It's just, what did you think?" Ron looked to see what her reaction was.

"I thought that they... made a guess. After the article today in the paper, they might think that we are..." Hermione blushed and ducked her head, her hair failing in a curtain around her face.

"I'm sorry, Hermione. It's just that... all this has thrown things into perspective. I mean, We have been going out for a year and had been friends seven years before that. And now I don't know if you..." Now it was Ron's turn to blush.

Hermione covered his hand with her own. "Ron, when we are ready." She left it at that.

They finished their drinks, not really talking. When they were finished, they slipped out the trusty Invisibility Cloak.

"Ron, make sure your feet don't show out the bottom!"

"I know, but I am tall. It gets kinda hard. And really, who's going to notice if my toe sticks out?" They slipped out the bar unnoticed.

The same could not be said for the street outside. The minute the door opened, the vulturelike reporters attacked. With Quick Quotes Quills in hand, they swarmed around the couple, asking them the same questions, but not really sure where they were looking.

They managed to sneak out of the circle unnoticed. They dived into the nearest store. It was the Hogsmeade branch of the joke shop. They threw the cloak off the minute they got into the back room.

"Ron! Hermione! Fancy meeting you here. I was wondering who was out there." It was George. He was reading the Daily Prophet and drinking a Butterbeer. "Hardly anyone's come in here today. The reporters kept scaring them off. 'Are you aware that George Weasley owns this establishment?' 'Did you know that Ron Weasley is part of the business?'," George did impersonations of the reporters, changing from a high, helium-induced voice, to a very low voice. "Bloody idiots... of course they know we own the shop! Our name is in the store's name! It's getting annoying! Of course, I didn't know what was going on until a couple minutes ago. The newspaper didn't show until just now. Darn reporters probably scared the owl. Or stole the paper, waiting to see how long it would take me to come out and get it. Then they would jump me and bombard me with questions. Probably gave up when I sat at the counter and pretended to activate one of the daydreams. So, what are you two up to?"

"Well, we were just attacked by those vultures." Hermione said as she straightened her robes. "We had to use the Cloak to get anywhere. I have to erase the reporters memories when we first walked into town. I'm surprised that they did not follow us in."

"Well, that could be due to the fact that I installed a spell that does not let anyone who I would not specifically allow in. So, why did you have to erase their memories?" George asked, always doubting his brothers skill at impressing girls.

"None of your business, George." Ron said, examining the newest daydream plans that were laid out on the table. "So, what's this one?"

"Well, this one is a new kind, per say. You know how we have the standard daydreams which have one adventure. These new ones will be interactive, if you would. This one will have decisions for you to make."

"That's very impressive, George!" Hermione said with a bit of surprise in her voice.

"Ron, what is with your girlfriend and the surprise whenever the we do something amazing?" asked George with an offended look on his face.

"I don't know. She uses it on me too." Ron said with a shrug.

"Well, I promise to stop acting surprised whenever you do something amazing." Hermione kissed him on the cheek. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back.

"Get a room! I really don't want to see this." complained George.

"Fine. And just so you know, I can break that spell you put on the door." Hermione flung back in response with a smile. She grabbed Ron's hand and led him into the front room. "Ready to go home?"

"Yeah. Man, I feel sorry for Harry and Ginny when they go out in public."

* * *

Another chapter. I hope you like it. Wollongong Shimmy, I hope you liked it. I will put more about Ron and Hermione in later chapters.

Please review. I really want to hit 300.

I do not own these characters. I never will. I have gotten over it.

Thanks for reading!!

Defying Gravity

"And I'll stand there with the Wizard, feeling things I've never felt."


	23. Oh No

__

Sorry about the delay. My space bar was sticking sounlessyouwantedtoreadthewholechapterlikethis,Ihadnochoice.

* * *

"So, Harry, do you want to tell me what that was all about? I completely understand if you don't." Ginny asked as she took his hand in her own.

"Dumbledore just wanted to tell me some things about my parents. I'll tell you about them later." Harry said. They walked down the numerous staircases and corridors before finally reaching the front door. "Oh. No." Harry stopped abruptly, his eyes widening with horror.

"What!? Is something wrong?" Ginny asked, staring at her fiance.

"We have to leave now."

"Uh, yes, Harry. Unless you want to spend the rest of your life at Hogwarts, we have to leave." Ginny said, rolling her eyes at Harry's obvious statement.

"Who do you think will be waiting when we walk out those gates?" Harry groaned.

"Oh. No." Ginny's expression turned to one of horror. "Not the reporters!"

"Yeah. So, do you want to walk right by them and not say anything as they yell questions, freeze them and walk right by, or actually talk to them and get it over with?"

"Walking right by will raise more questions like 'why did you walk right by?' Freezing could have some consequences and the punishment could be an interview. I think we should be diplomatically vague and answer questions."

Harry looked surprised. "Diplomatically vague?"

"Yes, diplomatically vague. No definite answers." Ginny stated with a satisfied smirk on her face. "Let's go." She walked on, leaving Harry to stare as she held her head high, ready to face whatever would come. He trotted after her when she turned a corner.

"So, Ginny, they will ask some... personal questions. You know?" asked Harry, thinking she had never been attacked by reporters before. He caught her hand before she could push open the door.

"I know. When you disappeared two years ago, they started asking me questions. Of course, they might have been controlled by Voldemort who thought that you told me your whereabouts and that I would slip up and reveal something." She added as an afterthought.

"Oh." was all Harry could say. They grabbed each others hands and Harry pushed open the door.

No one was there. "OK, they might not know we're here. But they will. Hopefully we can get to the gate before they show up." Harry whispered as if scared that the sound of his voice would alert the reporters to his presence. Harry and Ginny walked down the path, not fast enough to gain attention by anyone who might be on the grounds, but not slow enough for the reporters to think that they would want to stop and answer questions. They kept an eye out for anything out of the ordinary, which was not the easiest thing to do at Hogwarts.

Unfortunately, they did not see the people in the cemetery who looked like they were mourning the loss of a loved one. Neither did they see the photographer flying on a broomstick overhead, hidden by a terrible Disillusion Charm.

"Wait a second!" Harry stopped short and yanked out his wand. With a silent incantation, Harry revealed everyone who was hiding. The photographer suddenly appeared and the "mourners" started to glow. ""I knew it." Harry's years of being watched and hunted had fine tuned his instincts.

"EVERYONE GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!" yelled Ginny in a voice that seemed to big for her body, the voice she used on the Quidditch pitch. The "mourners" and photographers ignored the call, pretending they hadn't heard it. "WE KNOW YOU'RE THERE! YES, THAT MEANS YOU ON THE BROOMSTICK AND YOU IN THE CEMETERY!"

The reporters couldn't ignore that. They were caught. They slowly walked across the lawn and the photographer landed nearby. The photographer pulled his camera out of the bag slung over his shoulder and handed it over with a look of resignation. "Sorry we bothered you." He said in a gruff voice.

"We're used to it. We just don't like people making false claims." Harry said. "We have not decided much about anything, so we have nothing to tell you."

"Sorry, Mr. Potter, Ms. Weasley. I'll get rid of these pictures." "Yeah, we won't write anything."

"How did you do that?" Ginny asked in amazement as they down the path. The pictures had been magically deleted and the reporters' notes were destroyed.

"Being the hero of the wizarding world and the Head of the Auror office has its perks." Harry laughed. "OK, so I have a surprise for you later. Be ready to leave at 5 o'clock."

* * *

"You look... beautiful." Harry couldn't speak as he saw Ginny walk out the back door of the Burrow. Ginny was wearing a simple black dress and red heels. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of her neck and was a cascade of curls down her back.

"Thanks. You don't look half bad yourself. So where are we going?" Ginny asked, gripping Harry's arm, ready to let him direct her on where to aparate to.

"I told you. It's a surprise. Now put this blindfold on." Harry held out a strip of black fabric.

"Don't you just trust me to close my eyes and wait till you tell me to open them?" Ginny asked. Yet, she still carefully tied the fabric over her eyes.

"If you must know, I think you would look."

"Yes, yes I would." Ginny answered, gripping Harry's arm.

Together, they disappeared.

* * *

_Sorry about the short chapter. The next one will be longer, I promise. Also, sorry about the wait. The next chapter won't take as long. bThe next chapter will also be loads better. This is find of a filler chapter._

_Please review, if you still find it in your hearts to make me happy by writing a few words._

_I don't own the characters. J.K. Rowling holds that honor._

_Thanks to the people who put this in storyalert and favorite story._

_Thanks for reading!_

_Defying Gravity_


	24. Empty house

The familiar feeling of suffocation soon passed. Harry and Ginny were standing in the woods.

"Harry, where are we?" asked Ginny, who was still blindfolded. "Why do I get the feeling that I'm sinking!?"

"I don't know." Harry lied as he hastily pulled out his wand. With a flick of the thin piece of wood, the moss they were standing in solidified. "And don't worry, you'll see soon." He guided her along a short path, sure to guide her away from any hazards like mud puddles. "We're getting closer. Just one more minute."

"OK, if you say so." Ginny sighed, ready to get the blindfold off.

The couple finally emerged from the woods. "Sorry about the walk. We needed a safe place to aparate. OK, ready?" Harry asked. Ginny nodded her head  
and reached up for the knot at the back of her head. "Wait a second." Harry said suddenly. He moved her arms back to her sides and pulled at the knot.

The thin piece of fabric fell away, revealing their location to Ginny.

They were standing in front of a small cottage. It resembled Bill and Fleur's in a way, but it had its own special charm. A small, colorful garden surrounded a neat front porch. The front door was a burgundy red, contrasting beautifully with the white exterior. To the right of the door was a large window looking into a large yet empty living room. To the left of the porch was a dogwood tree in full bloom.

"Harry, where are we?" asked a breathless and very confused Ginny.

"My dear, we are in the outskirts of Godric's Hollow in front of a house." He stated in a very matter of fact tone.

"Well, I know we are in front of a house. Why this house though?"

"Well," Harry got a little flustered here. "I bought this house a couple weeks ago. I am going to move here." He looked for her approval.

"Harry, it's beautiful! I guess you got tired of jumping from the Burrow to Grimmauld Place and back."

"Yeah, so I decided to settle on a place to live. Come inside." He pointed his wand at the front door and it opened. "Shall we?"

Ginny just grabbed his arm and let him lead her in. The entered the front hallway.

"I haven't put in a any furniture except for the essentials like a stove and fridge. I thought maybe you could help with that?" he asked in a statement-like question

"Harry, of course I will." She smiled and looked around. "This place is beautiful."

"You've said that already, but I am glad you like it. And I do have one more surprise for you." He grabbed her hand and le her to the backyard.

"Uh, Harry, this is a lovely yard and all, but..." Ginny was cut off.

"This was not the surprise. It's coming." Harry said very excitedly. He was obviously ecstatic about the surprise. He pulled her to a path that led into the woods. They walked for about an eighth of a mile before they reached a clearing. A very familiar clearing.

"HARRY!! IT'S A QUIDDITCH PITCH!!" Ginny squealed, for they were indeed standing on the sideline of a full size, regulation Quidditch pitch, complete with a small set of stands. "IT'S WONDERFUL!!" She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss.

After they stopped kissing, Harry said, "Well, I'm glad you like it. The spells to put this in were horrendously long, but it was worth it. And now, it's dinner time."

"Where are we going for dinner?" asked Ginny, still standing in shock, staring at the pitch.

"We are actually going back to the house. I am going to cook." Harry said proudly.

"Oh, Harry, that sounds wonderful! That way we don't have to talk to the reporters." Ginny responded excitedly. "What are you making?"

"You'll see. Come on, you can see the pitch later, it'll still be here." Harry wrapped his arm around Ginny's waist and pulled her away from the pitch.

* * *

"So, did you enjoy dinner?" asked Harry, clearing up the dishes as he spoke.

"Yes, I did. I didn't know you knew how to make chicken parmesean. But, Harry, we need to talk." Ginny said, getting very serious.

"Yeah, I guess we do. You want to start?" Harry put the magically cleaned dishes in a cabinet and sat down across from his fiancé.

"OK. Well, we both know that the reporters and photographers will be following us around until the wedding, hounding us for details and such. What should we tell them?"

"I think we should just say that we have not made any definite plans for now. Later, we can say that we are not revealing anything until after the wedding. If they don't accept that, well, just ignore them. That's what I did when I joined the Auror office. I just ignored them if they did not like my statements."

"That sounds good."

"But, Ginny, they will ask some more... personal questions." Harry paused. "Like...if we're planning to have kids or not." Harry stopped.

"Harry, we will just say that we will decide on those things later. It's too early to plan our entire lives now." Ginny said in a matter of fact way. "I told you, diplomatically vague."

"You know how much I love you, right?" Harry said, standing up and wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

"Yes, but I always like to hear it again." Ginny stood up and turned around, facing him.

"I love you. You are the other half of me." Harry whispered. He pulled his wand out of his pocket and flicked it toward the living room. Soft music started to play as the couple started to dance. They slowly danced their way into the empty living room.

The two were in their own little world. Finally, they slowed to a stop, staring into each others eyes.

"I should get home. Mom and Dad still think of me as their baby girl and if I'm not home soon, they will flip." Ginny whisper, gently pulling away from Harry's embrace.

"Yeah, and your brothers would regroup and hunt me down." Harry laughed.

"I don't doubt that for a minute." Ginny looked around the room. With its hardwood floors and the soft shade of brown on the walls, it was very cozy. "We'll go furniture shopping tomorrow. If you're going to move in here, you need a couch at least. Where are you staying tonight?"

"Right here. I put a cot in one of the upstairs bedrooms that I will show you tomorrow." Harry walked a step behind Ginny as they walked into the front hallway.

"Wait, do we need to go in the woods again?" said asked apprehensively.

"No, we can aparate from right here in the house. Just as long as there are no muggles here. Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, I can go home alone. I think I can sneak in without mom attacking me. She'll be going after us soon to make wedding plans. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, I saw her before Bill and Fleur's wedding." Harry shivered in mock fright.

"Yeah. Good night, Harry."

"Good night, Ginny."

The couple kissed before Ginny disappeared.

* * *

You know the drill, review. Thanks for reading,

I still do not own the characters, yet. OK, I never will. Are you happy now?

Special shout out to Nightowl999 for looking over this. V.H.

Defying Gravity


	25. I don't know, Ginny

Disclaimer:

Me: So, Voldemort, would you like to do the disclaimer?

Voldmort: No, I do not, now DIE! Avada Kedavra!... Why aren't you dead!? Are you Harry Potter in disguise?

Me: No, you are just a fictional character owned by the brilliant J.K. Rowling, as are Harry and everyone else.

Voldemort: No! I am not fictional! I am real! And I am not owned by anyone!

Me: OK, Voldy, just keep telling yourself that.

* * *

"Ok, we're here." Harry announced as he pulled up to the first furniture store. He had gotten his Drivers License the past month and was driving a Ministry car. "So, you know we are looking for..." he started, pulling out a list from his wallet.

"Everything." Ginny cut him off. "C'mon, this will take all day." She unbuckled herself, opened the door, and stepped out of the car. "And we need to get started. You have muggle money, right?"

"Yep. And I'm sorry that we need everything. I will not furnish a house using anything from Grimmauld place, so we have to get everything." Harry opened his wallet and showed her the platinum credit card sitting in the first pocket.

"Let's go." Ginny replied as she took his hand in hers and started walking through the parking lot.

"You do know that I really, really, really love you for this, right?" Harry whispered in her ear.

"Yes, but I always like to hear it." she whispered back, kissing her cheek as they walked through the automatic doors.

"Hello, can I help you?" asked a girl sitting at a desk placed beside the door. Her desk was void of papers and she had her hands clasped in her desk in a schoolgirl sort of way.

"No, thanks, we're fine." Harry answered politely.

"Well, good luck. There are salespeople around the store, so don't be afraid to ask questions." she told them in a perky voice.

"Thank you." Ginny answered with a nod off her head. Harry and Ginny walked off into the vast store.

* * *

Three hours, a couch, love seat, kitchen set, two tables, a mirror, and one large desk later, Harry and Ginny were standing in the bedroom department.

"OK, Harry, the floors are hardwood in the master bedroom, so do you want a wood or metal headboard to go with it?" asked Ginny as she examined a fourposter bed.

"I don't know, Ginny. This is why I asked you to come along. I have no idea which one is best. A lot of guys don't. Remember when Ron moved into the flat above the Hogsmeade joke shop. Hermione ended up picking everything." Harry answered his own question.

"True. OK, since the floors have a golden tone to them, a wrought iron bed should look good. What do you think?" Ginny looked expectantly at Harry, waiting for a response. She gestured to a wrought iron bed next to her.

"Ginny, I told you, I have no idea. If you think this will look good, I know that you are right and will take your word for it." Harry took a little card from the holder on the matching dresser and added it to the stack he had in his hand. "I think we should stop for a little while. Would you like to get some lunch?"

"I think stopping would be a good idea. Your brain needs time to reboot. We still need a dining room table, bookcase, and two chairs, but we can get those later." Ginny read off the list as she checked off 'bed'. "OH, and we need some sheets and stuff for the bed and curtains. Dishes would not be a bad idea either." She added as an afterthought, writing the things down.

"OK, we'll do that after lunch." Harry placed the cards in his wallet. "There's a nice cafe down the street. How about we go there?"

Ginny thought this was a good idea and they walked down the street to the small cafe. They beat the lunch rush and found an empty table. The menus were on the table. A couple minutes later, a waitress came up to their table.

"Good afternoon. My name is Anne. Can I take your order?" said the cheery brunette.

"Yes. I'd like the garden salad and a glass of lemonade, please." said Ginny.

"And I'll have a cup of baked potato soup and a side salad. A glass of water is enough. Thanks."

"OK, I'll be right back with your drinks in a moment." Anne walked away from the table, throwing a glance over her shoulder at Harry.

"If that waitress keeps eyeing you..." Ginny left it at that. She was very possessive of Harry.

"I know. But I can't help but think that I know her somehow." Harry went into his deep-in-thought mode.

"Harry... earth to Harry..." Ginny called softly.

"Sorry, but I just have that feeling."

"Oh, good God, his intuition is alerting him to something." Ginny sighed. "You really won't let this one go, will you?"

"I'll try, but I know her, I just know it." Harry insisted, still wracking his brain for that tucked away memory that would help him.

"Fine. Here she comes. Why don't you ask her what her last name is. Maybe that can help you." Ginny suggested, hoping that it would help and get her fiance's mind off the subject.

"Here are your drinks." Anne said as she placed the glasses in front of the couple.

"I'm sorry, I really don't want to seem rude, but what is your last name?" Ginny asked, knowing Harry would not be bold enough to actually ask. Harry Potter, hero of the Wizarding World, Head of the Auror Office, and so many other things, could not ask, in good conscience, a question he thought was rude to a stranger.

"Oh," the waitress looked taken aback at the question. She was probably expecting Ginny to ask for a packet of sugar. "Well, I would really appreciate knowing the reason why before I tell you."

"Harry here thinks that he knows you from somewhere and is wracking his brains trying to figure out where. I think that a last name could help." Ginny stated, taking a sip of her lemonade.

"Harry... Harry... you're last name wouldn't be Potter, would it?" Anne asked hesitantly.

"Well, you know me, but I still have no idea where I know you from." Harry stated, still with a look of concentration on his face.

"I used to go to school with you. My name's Anne Rathert. I haven't seen you in years except for when we would run into each other during the summer."

"I remember you know. Ginny, Anne was in my class before I went to... our school. She was actually nice to me." Harry exclaimed.

"Wow, Harry. I never thought I would meet you here. I always wondered where you went to school. You did not seem like the type to go to St. Brutus's." Anne said with a questioning look on her face.

"Yeah, well." Harry shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"But you have changed." Anne cocked her hip in a flirty sort of way. Anne seemed to take a different interest in Harry.

"Anne," Harry rushed, "this is my fiance, Ginny."

"Anne, so mice to meet an old friend of Harry's." Ginny said in a scary, sweet voice. She put on a fake smile, but her eyes said 'flirt-with-Harry-and-you-die' written all over them.

"Nice to meet to Ginny." Anne answered in a shaky voice. She had obviously seen the murder in Ginny's eyes. "I think your orders are ready. I'll be right back." Without a backward glance, Anne rushed off, nearly tripping as she neared the kitchen door.

"Ginny, you know I love you. Why must you insist on scaring away every female who talks to me?" Harry sighed in false exasperation.

"You were always chased after, don't laugh, it's true! I've finally got you to myself and I want people to know that." Ginny admitted.

Anne brought their food and left the table without another word. Harry and Ginny spent the rest of lunch talking about the house and what they needed to buy.

* * *

Another four hours, a dining room table, two chairs, two large bookcases, and a lamp later, Harry and Ginny had finished their shopping. At least, in the furniture store.

"Harry, How are we going to get all this home? I mean, it's not like we can shrink the furniture right here, in front of a bunch of muggles. And we can't tell them to go to a place that, in the muggle world, does not exist. So, basically, we're stuck?" Ginny asked, suspecting that Harry had some trick up his sleeve.

"No, my dear, we are not stuck." Harry smiled with an amused twinkle in his eyes. The couple approached the counter to pay for their final purchases. Harry held out the card to the man sitting at the counter. "Excuse me, I think we're ready."

"I hope you found everything you were looking for." said the man.

"Yes, we did." As evidence, Harry handed over a stack of cards from all over the store.

"Oh." The salesperson was obviously not expecting such a large pile of cards. He picked up the stack and went through it. "So you two are furnishing an entire house, it looks like."

"Yeah, just about." Ginny sighed.

"You two getting married? If it's not too bold to ask." the man asked with good grace.

"Yes, we are." Ginny's eyes lit up as she said it. The man smiled and started checking in the cards. Harry hid the amount from Ginny as he handed over the platinum credit card.

"And when would you like this all delivered?" asked the man. "Lucky for you, everything you ordered is in stock here in the back."

"Yeah, really lucky." laughed Harry under his breath so the man couldn't hear him. "We can take it now. We can have a moving van here in a couple minutes."

"OH." the man was very taken aback. "You can drive around the back and pick up your purchases." He said as he handed Harry the credit card.

"That's great. We'll be right around." Harry told him, much to Ginny's confusion. "We'll meet someone out back. Thanks so much."

"Thank you, sir. It was a pleasure having you here. And congratulations, I am sure you two will be very happy together."

Harry and Ginny smiled back and turned to walk out the store.

"Harry, how in Merlin's name are we supposed to have a moving van here in minutes?" Ginny whispered so no one around them could hear.

"Don't worry, I've got it covered." Harry whispered back. He pulled the car keys out of his back pocket. "Moving Van," he whispered to them quietly. Ginny just rolled her eyes and trusted that her fiance could handle it.

They walked out the automatic door. "Harry, we did not drive here in a moving van." Ginny stared at the moving van that was in the parking place where the Ministry car had previously been.

"Hello, earth to Ginny, it's magic." Harry explained in a voice appropriate for telling a four year old that the sky is blue. Ginny just rolled her eyes and hopped into the passenger side seat. Harry jumped up to the driver's seat and started the van.

"Harry... do you know how to drive a moving van?" Ginny asked as the van started to pull out of the parking spot.

"No. No I do not." Harry stated with little worry in his voice. "But before you ask, all Ministry cars have charms on them that make it impossible for us to crash."

"OK." Ginny sighed in relief. The two pulled into the lot behind the store. Their furniture was being liftted out of a warehouse by several machines.

"Mr. Potter?" asked the supervisor of the moving.

"That's me." Harry told him as he shut of the van and unbuckled his seat belt. Harry opened the door and jumped out as Ginny did the same.

"We've got your order here. It should all be out in a about half an hour. It really is lucky that everything was in stock." The man wondered as the new sofa and chairs were brought out.

"Yeah, really lucky." Harry said with a barely suppressed grin on his face.

The loading did not take half as long as suspected. Harry and Ginny were driving away within the hour.

* * *

OK, sorry about the wait. It's been a busy couple days. But I hope you enjoyed this chapter at least a little bit. The next chapter will be so much better. I promise.

So, review. Checking my email and seeing more than three reviews makes me so happy. You don't want to take away my happiness, do you?

Thanks for the 319 reviews! 122 of you have me on story alert, 76 on Favorite story, 23 on Favorite Author, and 23 on Author Alert. Thanks to all of you.

So, I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading!

Defying Gravity

"My wildest dreamings, could not foresee..."


	26. Past, Present, and Future

OK, there is a lot of dialogue in this chapter, so be warned. It is a kind of past, present, future thing. I hope you like it. I know it could be very weird.

Disclaimer:

Me: So, Harry, would you like to do the disclaimer this time?

Harry: Disclaimer for what?

Me: Just say that J.K. Rowling owns the characters and I don't.

Harry: Characters for what?

Me: Characters in a series of books all about you and your adventures.

Harry: I'm not in a series of books. I never said anyone had permission to write about me! I bet it was Rita Skeeter under the name J.K. Rowling! She's in for it now.

Me: OK... Have fun with that...

* * *

"Harry, I think it looks perfect." Ginny said as she and Harry plopped on the new couch. "It took all day, but we did it."

"Yeah, it looks perfect." Harry said in wonder. "I actually own a home. A real home."

"Harry, in case you've failed to notice, you've owned Grimmauld place for, what, three years?" Ginny stated.

"Yeah, but that wasn't a home. It was a..." Harry stuggled to find the word, "dungeon. I can't call that place a home."

"Fine. But have you told anyone about this place yet?" Ginny asked as she stood up and stretched.

"Other than you, no. No one has any idea about this place."

"You might want to tell everyone. They will want to know where your disappearing to. Knowing my family, they'll think that you're off hunting Dark wizards. Which, knowing you, would not be a bad guess." Ginny said quietly. She pulled her wand out of her pocket and pointed it at the fireplace. It immediately burst into a cozy fire.

"Have I ever said how much I love magic?" Harry asked as Ginny sat back down on the couch next to him. He turned sideways, put his arms around her waist and pulled her closer so that she was resting on his chest. She sighed and placed her hands on his.

"I can't believe we're getting married." Ginny whispered. She held out her left hand in front of her. Her engagement ring shone brightly, reflecting the fire.

"Me neither." Harry whispered back. "You know that your mom is going to go crazy, right?"

"Yeah." groaned Ginny as she thought about it. "She'll be even worse than she was about Bill's wedding."

"Why?"

"Because, I am the baby of the family. AND, I am her 'baby girl'." Ginny explained. She kept looking at her ring, turning her hand, watching as it reflected the flames.

"Oh. So, before she gets to that, how are we going to restrain her before the wedding?" joked Harry.

"Well, I think all we need to do is set some guidelines. Like, who are we going to invite?"

"Oh, good God, the guest list. Who the snot are we going to invite. So, all of your family. Man, that's a lot. And our friends... You know what, we'll decide this later. Your mom has to give us at least a week before she starts hounding us for details." Harry asked, almost knowing what the answer would be.

"Yeah Right. She was freaking out so badly at Bill's wedding. She's going to want the whole thing planned out months before hand."

"Yeah. But I think we should have one detail down. When is the wedding going to be? I mean, do you want a winter wedding or wait until next summer or spring?" asked Harry, resting his cheek on the top of Ginny's head.

"Don't you mean what 'we' want?" asked Ginny. "It is 'our' wedding."

"Whatever makes you happy will make me happy." Harry lowered his head and whispered in her ear.

"I like the idea of a late spring wedding. What about you?"

"I think that's perfect." Harry answered in a low voice.

"Who should be the best man? You pick." Ginny told him, already knowing who he would say.

"Are you okay with asking Ron?"

"Of course."

"What about maid of honor?" asked Harry, not sure who she would ask. Ginny and Hermione had become like sisters but Ginny had other friends as well.

"Hermione or Luna. Both of them have become like sisters to me and I could not decide between the both of them in a minute."

"Why don't you have two maids of honor? I've heard it done." Harry asked.

"That's perfect!! I'll ask them both soon. So now we know that we want a wedding in late spring with Ron as best man and Hermione and Luna as maids of honor." Ginny said.

"OK, I think that's all we need to decide on tonight. So, anything else you want to talk about?" asked Harry.

"Nope." Ginny sighed and closed her eyes, enjoying the moment. Harry just rested his cheek against the top of her head. He breathed in her flowery scent and remembered when it had come out of a cauldron.

"Ginny, did see Amortentia in Potions?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I remember when we saw it the first Potions class of my sixth year. It smelt like treacle tart, a broomstick handle, and flowers. At the time, I didn't know what the flowery smell was." Harry laughed at his own confusion. "I knew I had smelt it at the Burrow, but I wasn't sure where." Ginny just laughed.

"We saw it. It smelt like broomsticks, mum's baking, and you."

"Me? What do I smell like?" Harry asked, very concerned. Too concerned to realize how completely ridiculous that question was.

"I don't know. It was just you. I can't explain it." laughed Ginny, not believing the question Harry had just asked.

"As long as it was a nice smell. But I remember when we made Polyjuice Potion..."

"Who did you turn into?" asked Ginny, cutting Harry off.

"I turned into Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore? How did you turn into Dumbledore?" asked Ginny, thrown off by his answer. She had been expecting him to say Ron or Hermione.

"It seems that Slughorn went around to different teachers and asked for a hair for class. The ones that gave a strand of hair had a sense of humor. Sprout, Flitwick, Dumbledore, McGonagall, even Madam Pompfrey. Though we did not know who we were going to turn into. Slughorn put the hairs in for us. We had to guess by the color the potion was."

"What color was Dumbledore's?" laughed Ginny, imagining Harry growing a long grey beard.

"Phoenix Red. Hermione turned into McGonagall and Ron turned into Flitwick. Ernie turned into Sprout." Harry laughed at the memory.

"We didn't have to do that last year. I mean, we knew who we were going to turn into. We had to get the hair yourself. I was Luna." Ginny laughed.

"And then there was the time that Snape made us duel in class in our sixth year. There was an odd number and no one wanted to duel me, so I ended up dueling Snape."

"I heard about that. You were the hero of the school. At least, of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff."

"Yeah. Snape was so upset about that. He gave me an extra essay for beating him."

"Ooh, that's harsh. I remember when we had the Death Eater as a teacher. He was a moron. He had a duel and wanted us to use any spell we knew. Well, there was an odd number."

"Who dueled him?"

"Luna. She was amazing. She used everything we had learned in the DA. He was too dizzy to punish her. We stuck around for the class after, knowing he would be mad. We didn't want anyone to get hurt because he was in a bad mood because of us. It was the seventh years. This time was worse. He would handpick people to duel him. Everyone else would have to watch. The first person he picked was Neville. Don't worry! Neville was amazing. Anyone who didn't know about the DA was stunned. They didn't know Neville could duel like that."

"Yeah, I think DA was a real helper to a lot of people. I mean, anyone in DA could beat some of the people in the Ministry." Harry leaned his head back and rested it against the back of the couch.

The flames danced in the fireplace and held a hypnotic trance over the couple. It was not until they were jolted out of their thoughts by a bolt of lightning that they moved. Ginny got up slowly and left with a kiss and an 'I love you', leaving Harry alone to think about the events of the past and the the possibilities of the future.

* * *

So, I hope you liked the chapter.

There is a new poll up on my profile. At least, I hope it shows up on my profile. It's my first poll. And if it doesn't show up and you might know why it's not showing up, please fell free to tell me what I might be doing wrong. Please check it out (hopefully) and make a choice. It is a detail in a future chapter but I've always wanted to do a poll.

I know there are 126 people out there who have this on Story Alert. I expect 126 reviews.

Thanks to those regular reviews! Love ya'!

Thanks for reading!

Defying Gravity

"Like a comet pulled from orbit as it passes the sun..."


	27. Jewels and a press conference

OK, before the story starts: This story has been nominated for a Quibbler Award for Best Canon. The link to this new site is on my profile. Check it out! First Round Nominees are being accepted now, so nominate your favorites then, later on, vote for a winner! There are also some great stories already there!

Disclaimer:

Me: OK, Ginny, it's your turn to say the disclaimer.

Ginny: Disclaimer for what?

Me: I just need you to say that J.K. Rowling owns the characters. I don't.

Ginny: Which characters? In what?

Me: Well, the characters are Harry and everyone else. J.K. Rowling owns 'em.

Ginny: IF THIS J.K. ROWLING THINKS THAT SHE OWNS HARRY, SHE'S GOT ANOTHER THING COMING!

Me: Well, now Voldy's gone crazy and Harry and Ginny are hunting down J.K. Rowling... weird...

* * *

The next day, Ginny was woken up by a soft whispering in her ear.

"_Ginny... it's time to get up... Ginny..." _Harry said slowly and softly into her ear.

"Harry!" complained Ginny, her voice muffled by her pillow. "Five more minutes..."

"Ginny, I'm sorry, but I have to talk to you." Harry said in his sweetest voice.

"Harry James Potter, this had better be good." Ginny sat up slowly and as she was stretching her arms above her head, she caught sight of the clock. "How in Merlin's name did I sleep until 11 o'clock?"

"Yesterday probably tired you out. That was a lot of shopping. But I need to talk to you. I was at work this morning and Kingsley had to speak to me. I seems that reporters and such have been hounding the Ministry for information on the two of us. They are complaining that we've not made a public appearance since the platform. Kingsley said that this has gotten out of hand. The Ministry cannot function properly if these reporters are hounding everyone who come with throwing distance of the entrance. Kingsley asked if we would mind giving a statement at a press conference. He just wants us to tell the media that we will or will not reveal details as time goes on." Harry explained.

"So, really, Kingsley wants us to do a press conference so the reporters stop bugging the Ministry?" asked Ginny.

"Yeah, that sums it up." Harry nodded his head, watching for Ginny's reaction.

"I think... that we should get it over with." Ginny sighed.

"Really, we don't have to if you don't want to." Harry rushed, not wanting Ginny to think that she had to do anything.

"No, I think we need to get it over with. And at a press conference would be the best place. At least they would not be making any assumptions there. Everywhere else they think you're up to no good and have to make up stories about you because what you're doing is not exciting enough." Ginny reasoned.

"OK, if you're okay with it, I'll go tell Kingsley then go home and change. How 'bout you come over to my house later, we'll have lunch, and go over what we'll say."

"Sounds good." Ginny swung her legs off the bed and stood up. "See 'ya then."

"I love you." Harry whispered as he slipped out her bedroom door.

"Love you too." She called softly. She knew he heard her when she heard him sigh and laugh at the same time outside the door.

Ginny walked to the closet on the wall opposite her bed. She opened it and looked at herself in the mirror on the inside of the door. Her hair was pulled back into the french braid she had put it in the night before. She was wearing her light blue pajamas and was barefoot. Her face was clear of makeup.

Ginny pulled her eyes away from the mirror and turned to the clothes inside the closet. She had to decide what to wear for the press conference. _What do you wear to a press conference about your engagement?_

She mulled it over in her head, pulled out a skirt with black flowers, brought it over to her bed and looked at it. It looked to dark to wear to the conference. Ginny Grabbed her wand from her bedside tabled and flicked it at the skirt. The flowers changed from black to a light shade of aqua. Satisfied with the color, Ginny went back to her closet and picked out a white blouse. She flicked her wand at the shirt and it became the same shade of aqua as the skirts flowers. _I love magic. _Last, Ginny picked a white, short sleeve jacket. This article of clothing stayed its original color. Last in the outfit, Ginny chose a pair of simple, white sandal with a one inch heel.

Satisfied with the outfit, Ginny dressed quickly, then she crossed the hallway to the bathroom. She pulled her makeup back from under the sink and opened it. Five minutes later, Ginny stepped out of the bathroom. She had a simple layer of makeup on, accenting her deep, brown eyes. Also, Ginny had released her hair from the braid. As she had planned, her hair was now a cascade of waves down her back.

Last was jewelry. Ginny slipped her engagement ring onto the ring finger of her left hand. It sparkled in the sunlight streaming in from the large window overlooking the field. From inside her small jewelry box, Ginny selected the necklace Harry had given her last Christmas. It was white gold and diamonds, same as her ring. The pendent on the thin chain was one of the journey pendents.

_Flashback_

_It was Christmas at the Burrow. Ginny was home from Hogwarts and curled up on the love seat next to Harry, who had his arm around her waist. Hermione and Ron were seated on the floor next to the tree. George and Angelina were seated on the opposite side of the lighted evergreen. Bill and a pregnant Fleur were sitting on the long couch, as were Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Charlie had been able to make it from Romania and was seated in the large armchair. Percy was leaning against the door frame._

_The first presents were from Charlie to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Mr. Weasley opened the brightly wrapped package to find a pair of handsome dragon hide gloves. Mrs. Weasley looked into the box she received and found a necklace. On the chain was a small pendent. The pendent had a dark blue gem in gold. _

_"The stone is rare, only found in Romania. It's called prothelgist. It has many magical properties including protection and wards." explained Charlie as his mom exclaimed in delight. She quickly put the necklace on and started to glow for a moment. "Now, that means that the stone has become attuned to you. With that information, it will protect you to the best of its powers." Charlie finished._

_Ron gave the next present, for in the Weasley tradition, names are pulled out of a hat and the order they pulled is the order everyone gives a present. Ron pulled out a small box out from behind the tree. "Hermione, this is for you." Hermione opened it to find a necklace. Placed in the center was a green gemstone surrounded by two small diamonds. "I hope you like it. The stone is peridot..."_

_Ron was interrupted by Hermione throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him. She made the kiss short though, for she knew Ron would recieve torture from his older brothers because of it. _

_Up next was George. He stood up and pulled Angelina up with him. "Angelina, I love you. More than you know. Will you marry me?" George pulled a small box out of his back pocket, knelt down on one knee, and opened the box. Inside was a princess cut diamond set in gold. Around the larger diamond was a slew of smaller ones._

_Everyone in the room gasped. Angelina was too shocked to speak. Tears just started trickling down her face as she brought her hands up to cover her eyes. George looked very upset until Angelina started nodding her head and laughing. George slipped the ring onto her finger, then swept her up in his arms. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him just as he kissed her. _

_Well, it took a while for everything to calm down. Three turns later, Percy was up._

_"Well, before I give my present, Kingsley wanted me to give these to Harry, Ron and Hermione." Percy stooped at pulled three small, five sided boxes out of the bag at his feet. He tossed one to Harry, one to Ron, and one to Hermione. They pulled opened the chocolate frog box and ignored the squirming chocolate amphibian sitting in it. They turned over the cards to find themselves staring back at them._

_"Wait, we each get a separate card?" asked an amazed Ron as he watched himself scratch his nose._

_"They got everything right." said Hermione as she skimmed the information on the back. Harry and Ron did the same. All the information was correct. The cards were passed around and admired. "Ron, they put that you are an ace at chess!" "Wow, Hermione, I didn't know that you have memorized Hogwarts: A History""Harry, they even put that your Patronus is a stag."_

_"Well, now I have a present for Mum and Dad." Percy said quietly. He pulled an envelope out of his back pocket and handed it to his father. Mr. Weasley carefully opened the envelope to find a single sheet of paper. He read the letter quickly, as did Mrs. Weasley over his shoulder._

_"We're going on a cruise?" asked an astounded Mrs. Weasley. "Oh, Percy, this is wonderful!"_

_"Glad you're excited. The cruise is a two week trip. You will start in the United States and then get on the ship for a trip around the Caribbean." _

_Next to give a present was Harry. He pulled a small box out of his pocket. "Ginny, this is for you." He placed the box on Ginny's knee and kissed her on the cheek. Ginny carefully peeled the gold bow off the top and opened the box. Inside was a white gold necklace with a trail of diamonds down the pendent._

Ginny smiled and lifted the necklace from its place in her jewelry box. She carefully put on the necklace and shortened the chain with a quick little spell. _I love magic._Completely satisfied with her appearance, Ginny grabbed a white clutch purse with a silver buckle from her closet.

Ginny walked down the stairs quickly, slipping her wand into the magically enlarged pocket of her jacket. After numerous flights of stairs, Ginny reached the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley was standing at the counter with her wand out, a knife chopping carrots for that night's stew. She glanced up at her daughter, but turned her head up when she saw that Ginny was nicely dressed.

"Deary, where are you off to?" asked Mrs. Weasley as she directed the carrots into the large pot sitting on the stove.

"Mum, there is a press conference at the Ministry later today. Reporters have been hounding the Ministry workers for information on the engagement and it has started to affect the efficiency of the Ministry. Kingsley wants, rather, needs, us to make a statement that will or will not tell all the details about the wedding. We're hoping that the reporters will lay off then. I am going to meet Harry so we can discuss what we will say." Ginny told her mom.

"Honey, are you okay with all of this? I mean, this is a lot of stress to put on a relationship." Mrs. Weasley asked, putting down her wand and walking around the counter. "Do you want us at the meeting?"

"Yeah, Harry and I are okay with it. Thanks, but you don't have to be there if you don't want to be.." Ginny waved as she walked into the back garden to aparate to Harry's house.

As the familiar suffocating feeling disappeared, Ginny opened her eyes. She was standing in the front hallway of the house.

"Harry! I'm here!" she called, walking into the kitchen.

"I'll be down in a moment!" she heard from the second floor.

Ginny placed her clutch on the kitchen table and sat down. She heard hurried footsteps from the bedroom upstairs, then from the hallway, then down the stairs. Harry appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. He was buttoning the second to last button on a dress shirt with light blue stripes. He was wearing light brown slacks and had a jacket in a slightly darker brown draped over his arm.

"Hey, Ginny." Harry walked over a placed a kiss on his fiance's cheek. "You're wearing the necklace I gave you."

"Yeah, I thought it would be appropriate. You like?"

"Yes, I like it very much." Harry said quietly.

* * *

Another chapter, gone. I hope you enjoyed it. Better chapters are on their way.

Thanks to Nightowl999 for Beta-ing this. Love 'ya! Thanks to all my regular reviewers! OK, so I have 382 review. My goal is 500. I know there are people out there reading this! There are 130 of you out there who have this on story alert and I got 21 reviews the last chapter. Where are my other 109 reviews!! C'mon, you can make my day by sending a review. OK, I'm done.

There are some links on my profile so you can see the jewelry mentioned in this chapter. Also, don't forget about the Quibbler Awards!

Thank for reading!!

Defying Gravity


	28. The Culture Charm

Disclaimer:

Me: I've got Rita Skeeter here to do the disclaimer! So, Rita, will you say the disclaimer?

Rita: Why would I do that? You had me arrested!

Me: Remember, I am still writing the story, so it could go a lot worse for you. Now, just tell everyone that I do not own the characters, J.K. Rowling does.

Rita: Wait, characters for what?

Me: J.K. Rowling wrote a series of stories about Harry, Ron, Hermione, and everyone else. I just want people to know that I don't own the characters.

Rita: She already wrote about Harry Potter! That was going to be my big story! How dare she take my subject and write about him!

Me: Rita... she imagined all of you... Harry is kind of 'her subject'.

Rita: NO! J.K. Rowling cannot write about him! I write about him!

Me: RITA!! J.K. Rowling owns you too! She controls everything you've done!

Rita: No...No... SHE STOLE MY SUBJECT!! storms off to duel J.K. Rowling for ownership of the 'subject'

Me: Look out J.K. Rowling, you have a couple people coming after you!

* * *

"Mr. Potter, there are some people who have heard you use the word 'dude' in the not too distant past. 'Dude' is common slang elsewhere in the world, but not here in England. Why have you used these words?" asked a rather large reporter in the third row.

"Well, on those days I must have been under the influence of the Culture Charm. I have been traveling to the United States on occasion on Ministry business and needed to, for lack of a better phrase, get rid of my English accent and vocabulary. Therefore, I underwent the Culture Charm. This charm will change your accent, vocabulary, and knowledge of a culture. The side affects include a time where you use words uncommon in your life." Harry said from a podium in the front of the room.

Harry and Ginny were in the middle of the dreaded press conference. A large room in the lower levels of the Ministry held about 37 reporters, all ready to ask questions. A raised podium was situated in the front of the room. The reporters were forced to accept that no real plans (not any that Harry and Ginny were ready to tell them yet) and had to settle with asking them normal interview questions.

But that didn't mean that they weren't going to milk it for all it's worth.

"Ms. Weasley, you has expressed interest in playing Quidditch professionally. When do you plan to follow this dream?" asked a female reporter in the front row.

"There were scouts at the Hogwarts Quidditch games, but I cannot really apply until after the Finals in a few months." Ginny answered. She had her hands on the podium in front of her and was trying to figure out something she could do with them.

"Mr. Potter, we all know that you are revolutionizing the Auror office. Did you have any resistance from older Aurors?" asked a dark haired man in the last row.

"There was a little resistance from a few people, but I did hear their views and tried to make the office as efficient as possible."

"Did you use anything you had learned during your disappearance during the war?"

The room went very still. Harry rarely said anything about the war, especially in public. Each reporter checked their Quick Quotes Quill (all Ministry issued, of course) to make sure it would catch every word. Harry's eyes dulled a bit, as did Ginny's. Ginny looked down at her engagement ring. Harry noticed and covered her hand woth his own.

"Yes, I learning from that time." He said simply. "A time like that changes your views on life and all that you love. You can't help but look at everything differently." The quills scratched furiously as he spoke, straining to keep up and not miss a word. Harry looked down, signaling the end of his answer. The tensioned remained in the room as the reporters silently dared each other to ask the next question.

Finally, a young, female reporter in the second to last row had the courage to ask another question. "Mr. Potter, Ms. Weasley, do you feel comfortable talking about this?"

Ginny looked up and smiled at the reporter. "Not really. That was a very hard time for us. But you're the first reporter to ask that. Thanks."

"Mr. Potter, we have heard that you considered Hogwarts your first real home. Did you ever consider teaching as a career?" asked a female reporter in the fourth row.

"I never really thought about it seriously. I knew that I had to fight Voldemort," many of the people in the room winced as he said the name, but, to Harry's happiness, most did not, "eventually. By the time I thought about careers, Voldemort had returned. By the time I defeated him, I was already on a certain path." Harry said. His lips turned up at the sides as he thought about the DA. He had been a teacher for a few months, and a pretty good one at that. He could tell that Ginny was thinking the same thing, for she was smiling and her eyes had a twinkle that just screamed laughter.

The reporters obviously had no idea what was so funny. Incredulous looks covered everyone one of their faces. No one knew about the DA except for a couple Ministry officials, teachers, and Harry. Oh, and the rest of the DA, but none of them would tell. They did not want to test and see if Hermione's spell on the list of names still worked.

"Ms. Weasley, how do you feel about other women flirting with your fiance?" asked a young, rather pretty female reporter in the last row.

"Random question... well, I obviously don't like it at all." Ginny said in a pleasant voice, her eyes contradicting her tone, screaming 'murder'.

Before any reporters had the opportunity to ask any more questions, a bell tolled a few floors above them. The reporters groaned and picked up their quills as they quivered on the spot, ready to take notes that would not come. For you see, the reporters had been told that they would have one hour to ask questions and the bell signaled the end of that time. A few tried to ask a few more questions, but Harry and Ginny refused, trying to make their way out the door at the back of the room.

When they were free of the crowd, they were met by Kingsley Shacklebolt. "Thank you both for this. I would never ask for it, but their questions were becoming too much. I have never seen reporters so focused on a subject. Even during the war, though I suppose that the media was controlled by outside forces." Kingsley said in his low, deep voice.

"Yeah, I guess. But the reporters were just so... nice!" Ginny said. "They didn't ask any rude questions and were actually pleasant! What did you do to them?"

"This room is used for certain conferences. It makes those inside act pleasant to each other. They can't ask rude questions or anything that would slightly disturb the people around them." Kingsley told them with a grin. The three walked to the lift and stepped in before the doors closed. "It's kind of a Ministry secret. None of the reporters know about it. AND... their memories are erased of the location where the conference was given. They remember being in the main room, not the magic one. But they will still wonder why they were so nice to everyone." Kingsley laughed and soon, so did Harry and Ginny.

"I am using that room from now on." Harry announced as the pleasant female voice of the lift announced their arrival in the Atrium. The reporters will still on their way up, so no one bombarded them with questions when they stepped out. But Hermione and Ron were standing there, waiting for them.

"Just so you guys know, we were there." Hermione explained as they floo-ed to the surface world after a quick 'farewell' to Kingsley. "We used the Cloak. Sorry, but we were attacked in Hogsmeade and did not feel like going through that again. But we did notice that the reporters were extremely nice."

"They room makes everyone be nice, if you would. They couldn't ask rude questions or make anyone else uncomfortable on purpose." Harry explained. The four were standing on a London street with cars whizzing by them. "It was the best interview I ever had. Actually, the interview with Rita in the fifth year was pretty good. Her face was hysterical as Hermione threatened her." Harry added as an after thought.

"So, you guys want to get a drink?" asked Ron. The group was headed towards the Leaky Cauldron. Aparating was not the most comfortable experiance and it was avoided whenever possible.

"Sure. But how 'bout we go somewhere different? The Leaky Cauldron will be bursting with people." Harry said, not wanting to deal with all the reporters and fans. Man, did he hate the word 'fan'. Harry looked at Ginny, who immediately caught on. She smiled and nodded.

"Fine. Where should we go?" asked Hermione.

"We'll show you!" Ginny said happily. The four ducked into a dark alley and checked to make sure no one was watching them. She grabbed her brother's arm as Harry grasped Hermione's arm. "We'll guide you."

Harry and Ginny concentrated and the four disappeared into thin air.

* * *

OK. Short chapter. I know. Don't need to say it in reviews.

I've been on vacation and was told that I would have computer access on the trip. Unfortunately, that was a lie and I have been cut off from the internet for over a week.

So, I still hope you enjoyed it. Please review for you all know how much it means to me.

So, update on the Quibbler awards. Today, August 19, is the last day for nominations. There is a reading period after that so you are informed and can decide which stories to vote for. Then, voting will begin on August 26th. So, last chance to nominate and in five days, vote!

Thanks to the numerous people who have reviewed.

Enjoy and thanks for reading!

Defying Gravity


	29. Where It All Started

Quibbler update! Voting starts on August 26 and ends on September 9! The link to the Quibbler site is on my profile, as are some other links to random things from the story.

Disclaimer:

Me: OK, so Harry, Ginny, and Rita Skeeter are after J.K. Rowling. Voldy's gone off the deep end. Bellatrix Lestrange, come on down. You're the next contestant on 'Let's see how I can mess with your mind!'

Bellatrix Lestrange: Filthy muggle! How dare you expect me to do something for you like a house elf!

Me: WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I'M A MUGGLE!! (flames shoot out from my hands and engulf Bellatrix Lestrange and my eyes glow lightning blue)

OK, just kidding. Or am I? (dun dun DUHHHHH)

Me: Well, I am the one typing... so I dare to expect you to do something for me. I want you to give the disclaimer. Just say that J.K. Rowling owns you and everyone else.

Bellatrix: No one owns me... If anyone has power over me, it is the Dark Lord! Is this J.K. Rowling Voldemort in disguise?

Me: Uhhh... (wondering how her life came to typing about Bellatrix Lestrange asking if J.K. Rowling is Voldemort)

Bellatrix: My master! I must go find him! (leaves to find J.K. Rowling and worship at her feet)

Me: How 'bout we just go on with the chapter then?

* * *

Just as quick as the suffocating began, it stopped. Everyone opened their eyes to see the front of the small house on the outskirts of Godric's Hollow.

"Harry, where are we?" asked Hermione as she looked around at the unfamiliar settings.

"My house." Harry said in a matter-of-fact tone. He led the way up the pathway to the front door.

"Harry, this is not Grimmauld Place" stated Ron.

"Ron, we know that this is not Grimmauld Place. This is Harry's house." Ginny told him in a voice appropriate for telling a little kid that the sky is blue.

"Harry, it's beautiful. When did you go house shopping?" asked Hermione as she stepped through the door and looked around. Her eyes caught on something on the mantelpiece. She sucked in a breathe, unable to say anything. Ron whipped his head around when she gasped. He followed her gaze to the mantle.

Fortunately, Ron didn't have problems speaking. "Harry, mate, where did you get those pictures? They aren't the ones in your album, right?"

_Harry and Ginny stood in front of an old, dilapidated house. Ivy covered the entire structure. On the second floor, one of the rooms on the right side was blown away. Faded, water damaged blue wallpaper could be seen through the hole._

_"Harry... that's where..." Ginny said quietly. She had been here before, but the thought of the events that occurred here seemed to erase her memory and send her into a state of disbelief. _

_"Yeah. This is it." Harry breathed. A sign rose up like a flower set on fast forward. Harry read the familiar words. He had come and stared at the sign multiple times, sometimes for hours at a time. He had even gone past the rundown gate and walked up to the front door, but could never make it in before he would freeze up. _

_But now he had Ginny with him. "Ginny, I wanted to go inside. I've tried before, but I couldn't." Harry_ _whispered. His eyes glistened with the tears that had never come before._

_"Harry, it's okay. I'm here. We'll go in together." Ginny whispered back. She took his hand in hers and started down the path. Harry followed slowly. _

_Overgrown plants threatened to spill over the pathway, but the path was clear enough. Ginny carefully walked up the rotting, wooden front steps, careful to not trip. The handle on the front door was gone and the wood around it was in splinters. The whole door gave the impression of the protector who failed. Ginny sucked in a quick breathe as she saw the damage. Through the whole in the door, she could see the front hallway, splinters scattered throughout._

_Harry squared his shoulders, squeezed Ginny's hand, and pushed open the door. The first thing they noticed was a pram pushed against the wall, ready to be used again. But that chance never came. The wheels had rusted long ago and the cushion inside had become moldy and black. _

_As the door screeched to a stop, the hinges rusted, Harry and Ginny noticed a large, white, round stone near a doorway to the right of the room. Gold letters were spelling a message Harry couldn't read from their view point. With slow steps, Harry stepped forward, leaving Ginny in the doorway._

**James Potter**

**A Husband, A Father, A Friend,  
A Marauder**

**March 27, 1960 to October 31, 1981**

_A thick dust, over sixteen years worth, surrounded the stone, but not a speck was on the stone._

_Harry remembered the scene that had played in his head that day, Christmas Eve, when he and Hermione had come to Godric's Hollow. The green light, illuminating the pram, seeing himself, a baby, with his father, moments before the end would come for one of them, seeing the father he had never known, the father he couldn't remember but so much resembled. _

_Tears started clouding his vision, but Harry blinked them away. "I don't think anyone's been here in at least a decade."_

_"Harry, for as long as I can remember, stories were told about his house." Ginny said as she walked up behind him. "No one enters this house. Ever. Everyone left it, as is, as a memorial for them. They left it, as is, for you. Few things were ever done to this house. Some spells were said, but everyone thought that this house should be left for you to explore. For you to learn about your family." She ended quietly, letting him absorb the words. _

_Harry didn't say anything. He just pulled out his wand from his pocket. He flicked it, thought a spell, and the dust disappeared. He stepped around the stone and into the living room. The image of him on his father's lap, being entertained by colored puffs of smoke entered his head. _

_Harry flicked his wand again and the dust in this room disappeared as well. The wallpaper was fading and peeling. The furniture was faded and sunken in. Chunks of plaster sat in the middle of the room, fallen from a hole in the ceiling. _

_But a few things had not changed. On the wall, a few framed pictures were hung. They had not faded or been damaged at all. _

_The first was of Lily and James. It was their wedding day. In fact, it was the same picture as the one in Harry's album, just larger. The inhabitants of the photo were laughing and smiling, unaware that anyone was watching them, unaware that they're lives would soon come to an end. _

_"I wonder why the pictures haven't been damaged." whispered Harry as he watched the happy scene. For a moment, Sirius, walked into the frame, his face alight with happiness for his best friend._

_"In the Wizarding world, it is customary for pictures to have protection spells put on them. Water damaged, fading, and bug damage is all stopped." explained Ginny. _

_The next picture was of the whole family. Lily was on a hospital bed, propped into a sitting position by a bunch of pillows. James was sitting next to her. Harry, hours old, was wrapped tightly in a blue blanket, eyes tightly closed, a tuft of jet black hair peeking out from underneath the knit cap on his head. Lily was holding him, gazing at his face. James was doing likewise, but once in a while, he would turn his head and kiss his wife. _

_Harry thought of who might have taken the picture. A nurse? One of their friends?_

_"Harry." Ginny simply said, eyes locked on the picture._

_The third and last picture on this wall was of the family again, only this was taken later. They were underneath a large tree and it was autumn. Harry, who would have been about one year, two months old, was wearing a brick red sweater. James was wearing a dull orange sweater and Lily, a gold one. They were smiling and laughing as Harry examined a gigantic red leaf._

_Again, Harry wondered who had taken the picture. Had they hired a professional? Did one of their friends take it?_

_But then, sadder thoughts crept into his mind. They knew Voldemort was after them. They knew that they were targets of the most evil wizard of all time. Did they ever think that their time would come so soon after, for the picture could not have been taken more than two months before they died. _

_Harry shook his head, hoping to get rid of the thoughts. Ginny looked at him, questioning, but let it go when he didn't say anything._

_"Wait one moment." Harry said. He conjured a box and set it on the ground in front of him. He carefully took the pictures off the wall and, after magically 'bubble wrapping' them, he placed them in the box. Ginny didn't question. She just waited, watching as his face changed at every picture._

_After he placed the third picture in the box, he straightened up and looked around. No more pictures were on the walls here. But... there was a large wooden cabinet in the corner. The doors were falling off their hinges, so all Harry needed to do was pull and they fell off. Inside were three large books and one smaller one. _

_The first large one contained pictures taken all through the years. There were a few pictures of James and Lily before Hogwarts, all of Lily's non moving. Then, there were all sorts of pictures from Hogwarts. The only ones of them together were from their later years. Almost all of the earlier ones of James in Hogwarts included one of his friends, mostly Remus and Sirius. Lily was shown with stacks of books surrounding her. The scene reminded Harry of Hermione in their third year, always surrounded by at least five textbooks. The last pictures were of James and Lily with their friends. One pictures looked like an engagement party. Last very last picture was a formal picture of James and Lily._

_The second large book a photo album filled with wedding pictures. Pictures of Lily in her long white dress. Lily and the bridesmaids. James and the groomsmen. Various shots of the wedding. The last pages were the reception pictures, cutting the cake, the first dance and all._

_The last large book was an album of pictures starting with Lily and James. The few pages showed Lily, slowly getting bigger and bigger. Then, the picture on the wall was in the album. From there on, the book was devoted fully to Harry. Happy Harry, sad Harry, angry Harry, sleeping Harry, Harry with his first tooth. Everything. There was even a copy of the picture Harry had found part of in Sirius's room. He was one year old and was riding a toy broomstick, his father chasing after him. Lily's face was reflected in a mirror in the back round, laughing as she tried to hold the camera steady enough to take the picture._

_The fourth, smaller book was Harry's baby book. A family tree, dates, records, everything was in it. _

_Ginny was entranced by the photos. She quickly glanced through all the books before helping pack them carefully away. She would look at them later._

_Harry and Ginny went through the house doing the same routine. Pictures were carefully stored in boxes to be moved. The first floor had few more pictures, but in the dining room, there was a large, wooden cabinet. Inside was a fine set of china, crystal, and silver._

_"Harry, these are gorgeous." Ginny gasped as she examined a wine glass made of crystal. Harry agreed and packed them away carefully._

_The second floor was next. The first room they entered was a library. The walls were very faded, but it was still clear that they had been Gryffindor red. Large bookshelves covered the walls, all filled with books of different sizes. But they were untouched by time._

_But most spectacular was the large wooden desk in the center of the room. Time had not affected the carvings on the front or the drawers in the back. It looked the same as it would have been seventeen years ago._

_"How is it the same?" asked Harry._

_"Sometimes older pieces, antiques and heirlooms and such, have protection spells on them. Maybe that's the case here with the desk and books." she explained._

_Harry, who had been staring a the desk alone, went to investigate the books. He chose the oldest one on the case closest to him. _

_It was a family history. "Ginny, this is my family history on my dad's side. It goes as far back as the Peverell brothers!" Harry exclaimed as he turned through the first couple pages._

_"Harry, that book has to be centuries old!" she also exclaimed as she came up behind him and looked over his shoulder at the book._

_--_

_The other parts of the house yielded interesting finds, but none more so than the book. _

_The last room they had to explore was the nursery. The paint on the white door was chipped and faded as Harry and Ginny approached it slowly. They had purposely saved this room for last._

_"You're sure about this Harry?" asked Ginny, not sure what his reaction would be to the room._

_"I'm sure." Harry breathed deeply and reached for the door handle. The door handle squealed after years of being undisturbed. Harry shoved the door as the hinges refused to budge from their position. Slowly, the door opened._

_The first thing noticeable was the gigantic hole in the side of the house. The sunset blazed through the hole, illuminating everything inside. A large stone sat in the middle of the room, rebounding the sun's dying rays._

**Lily Evans Potter**

**A Mother, A Wife, A Friend**

**January 30, 1960 to October 31, 1981**

_"This is where it all started. Everything." whispered Harry._

* * *

OK, a kinda depressing chapter, but a chapter, none the less. Sorry if there are some grammar mistakes. I kept getting ideas and typing as fast as I could so I would not loose them.

Does this whole thing sound disrespectful to you? Well, I think it is better for the pictures and all to be used and displayed. So please don't say it was disrespectful. That would just tear me apart.

Just so you know, Harry and Ginny leave the room, as is. But that didn't seem dramatic enough.

Please review! (flames shoot out of my hands and my eyes glow lightning blue) (You never know with the special effects these days)

Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Thanks for reading!

Defying Gravity


	30. Death Eater HQ

(Yells back to the angry crowd, who just happens to be chasing her with pitchforks and torches) Sorry for not updating in so long! School has started (yay!) and everything has gotten very hectic. Also, I had writer's block.

Quibbler Award Update: I WON!! Thanks to everyone who voted for the story, even if they were angry with me for not writing in so long.

I, Defying Gravity, swear to never leave you without updating for that long ever again.

Disclaimer:

Me: OK, the list of characters I have messed with is getting a little long. Oh well... Heeeerrrreeee'ssss Hermione!

Hermione: Yes?

Me: OK, Hermione, will you give the disclaimer?

Hermione: For what?

Me: For you, Harry, Ron, and everyone else. Will you tell them that I don't own you guys, J.K. Rowling does?

Hermione: Harry never gave permission for a book! I bet it was Rita Skeeter! I thought I got rid of her the last time! I mean, we brought her to the Ministry! Stupid unregistered Animagus... (storms off to find J.K. Rowling, thinking she is Rita Skeeter, who happens to be after J.K. Rowling. Oh, Harry is also after J.K. Rowling for writing about him. I wonder what will happen when they find Rita Skeeter attacking their target, J.K. Rowling, who is after her for taking her subject, Harry.)

Me: OK... I apologize to J.K. Rowling for setting Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley, Rita Skeeter, and Hermione Granger after her. Oh, and for sending Bellatrix Lestrange to worship at her feet. I don't feel any remorse for sending Voldy off the deep end.

* * *

Ginny disappeared in a whirl of green fire. It was September and she was off to the Holyhead Harpies training facility for a six week training camp. She had been accepted into the final round of Quidditch tryouts and this six weeks would be the last test for the hopeful applicants.

Harry watched as the green flames subsided and died. He turned away from the fireplace and walked through the kitchen of the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley was at the counter, baking. She had not cried this time, mainly because she was so used to the fourth months between September through December when they were at schools. Six weeks was nothing.

As Harry approached the back door to leave for work, Mrs. Weasley started to speak.

"Well, the house is almost empty. With Bill at Shell Cottage with Fleur, Charlie in Romania, Ron and George above the shops and Ginny at this camp, everyone is out of the house." She did not seem to be speaking specifically to anyone.

The oven timer dinged and Mrs. Weasley pulled out her wand. Harry quietly opened the door and stepped out. The backyard was wild and untamed. A garden gnome raced through the garden and disappeared into a hole under an unidentifiable shrub.

The familiar squeezing sensation soon embraced him.

He appeared in the Ministry of Magic. Witches and Wizards swarmed around him as the moring commute began to get in full swing. He quickly stepped from the alcove so someone else could appear. Harry followed the flow of the crown towards the lifts. They were packed, as usual.

But, there was an easier way. Harry walked down a hallway that led to a closet. On the wall was one of the 'windows' of the Ministry. Harry pulled out his wand and tapped the top, left hand corner of the window frame, and a doorway appeared. Harry quickly looked left and right. No one was in the corridor, so Harry ducked through the door before anyone could show up.

A lift was there, but it was very old. Harry had found it on one of his explorations. Sliding the grate aside and stepping in, Harry checked the beat up watch on his wrist. Like the public lift, the lift greeted him with a cool, female voice.

Harry ignored the voice, having heard the whole shpeel many times before. He quickly pushed a button and the lift descended. Schreeching sounds filled the air as the levels of the Ministry flew by, but Harry wasn't worried, for many spells had been put on the lift, by both him and Hermione. She used the lift often as well on her way to work in the Magical Law Enforcement Department.

The lift screeched to halt and the grills groaned open. Harry stepped into a dark passage. A light guided him as he approached the end of the tunnel. He emerged in the back of a janitor's closet. It was not really a janitor's closet, not the muggle type at least. The normal occupants of the closet, the mop, broom, etc, were floating around the hallways, waiting for even the smallest spill to occur.

Harry reached his hand out to the doorknob and turned it slowly. He stuck his head out the door, checking both ways down the corridor. No one was in sight, so he slipped out and walked to his office.

A purple memo flew around his head as he walked in. Harry caught it and unfolded it, breaking the gold seal.

_Harry,  
A stakeout on a couple of former death eaters has  
revealed rebellion HQ. Your help would be appreciated.  
The transportation department will have the location needed.  
Thanks.  
Hurley_

Jonathon Hurley had been one of the more experienced Aurors who had decided to stay with the Ministry. His mind had been rattled by spells over the years and he knew that. He always felt better when someone else was there to help if he messed up.

Harry read the note quickly. The minute he finished reading it, he ran back out the door. Up a set of stairs, down a corridor, and to the right. In front of him was the door to the Transportation Department.

"Ah, Mr. Potter. If you would please, stand in the ring in the corner. Just concentrate on aparating. We will do everything else." said Mr. Twilcross. The slight old man looked back down at his paper work and ignored Harry from then on.

Harry did just as he was told and was soon beneath the Invisibility Cloak outside a rebelion headquarter. Small groups of former death eaters were gathering here and there, trying to rekindle the evil flame.

But Harry was always there to stop them. The last fight had been close, but Harry had prevailed.

The Death Eater HQ was on an island off the coast of Scotland. Hidden spells made the site almost impossible to trace by magic and invisible to muggles. A rundown building was situated on the sparse bit of rock. Harry could tell that two other Aurors were situated underneath a rocky overhang on an island a few dozen yards away. They were perfectly hidden from the Death Eaters, though, because of a spell Hermione had found in the depths of the archives at the Ministry. Each Auror had a medallion that revealed them to other Aurors, so two green, glowing dots were visible to only Harry's eyes.

Harry aparated to the small overhang and took off the Invisibility Cloak. Protected by the spell, Harry had no need for it then. Tom O'Leary and Jon Hurley jumped when Harry appeared.

"OK, guys, what's the situation?"

"A group of Death Eaters is inside the building right now. We've tried to attack the building on our own, but there's a series of wards protecting it. One of them needs three people to break. That's why you're here." explained O'Leary. His eyes were trained on the building.

"OK. Anything else?" Harry asked.

"Not really. It just looks as if they got some new protection, but that's it." Hurley said.

"On three, we aparate to the far side of the island. They are less likely to see us there, it did not look like there were many windows. The normal incantations should work. If not, right back here, no excuses." Harry sternly told te other two. O'Leary had a reputation for attacking without a plan.

"Fine. Ready? One." Harry pulled his wand out of his pocket, as did Hurley. "Two." O'Leary prepared to pounce as he counted down. "Three!"

The three appeared on the other side of the island. Their wands were pointed at the windowless abck of the building as they started saying the incantations in their heads. An outer layer of protection started to glow a bright yellow.

Then, out of no where, a beam of red light flew out from the sheild to connect with Harry's wand. The red beam turned into a glow which engulfed Harry fully. He was frozen in time, not able to move, not able to speak.

And just like that, he was jerked into the yellow sheild and was... gone. He disappeared.

O'Leary and Hurley dropped their wands and aparated back to the outcropping.

"What the hell just happened?!" yelled O'Leary as he searched for the small red glowing dot that would indicate where Harry would be. It was not on the island.

"I don't know! Get back to the Ministry!" Hurley yelled back. He scooped up the Invisibility Cloak Harry had left, folded on the ground, surrounded by an Invisibility spell.

Two minutes after Harry had arrived on the island, he was gone. But no one knew where he was.

That is, except for the Death Eaters.

* * *

DUHDUHDUH...DUHHHH! Cliffhanger!

Sorry for not writing.

OK, so review, if you would. Tell me if you like this twist. Tell me if you don't like this twist. Either way is fine. I am 43 reviews away from 500 reviews!!

So, I hope you enjoy!

Thanks for reading and voting!

Defying Gravity


	31. Cracked Ribs

* * *

OK, this is a very, VERY depressing chapter. Their life can't be all sunshine and butterflies, now can it?

Me: Hello, everyone who takes the time to read this story! Today we have a very special guest... IT'S J.K. ROWLING!!

Ms. Rowling: Are you the one who sent my characters after me?

Me: Maybe... So you claim those characters as your own!

Ms. Rowling: Of course. But you are the one who sent them after me?

Me: So they haven't caught up with you?

Ms. Rowling: Not yet. I expect they will any time now

Suddenly, Harry burst through the wall.

Harry: SKEETER!!

Me: HARRY!!

Then Harry flies away with J.K. Rowling. But, Lestrange shows up and stops Harry, taking Rowling for her own. Harry and Bellatrix fight over her, only to kill each other in the end, leaving me with the writer of one of the most awesome of awesome book series EVER!! (can you tell I love Harry Potter?)

* * *

Harry cast the spell at the building. A yellow shield appeared, barring any spell from entering the headquarters. A red beam of light shot out from the shield and connected with the end of Harry's wand. Immediately immobilized, Harry could do nothing except watch as the red glow crept up his arm and across his torso. As soon as the red engulfed him fully, he was jerked forward and disappeared.

Harry lost consciousness.

* * *

Harry awoke to find... darkness. As his eyes adjusted, he found that he was surrounded by iron bars to his left and cinder block walls on his other sides.

Still dizzy, Harry shook his, only succeeding in sending the room spinning. As soon as the room was stationary, he blinked a few times to readjust his eyes to the darkness.

He was sitting in a cell. The iron bars had a door in them, though there was no lock on it. There was silence except for th thumping of his own heart and the ragged tearing of his breath. On the other side of the bars was a hallway and on the other side of the hallway, another cell. The occupant was laying on their side, their back towards Harry. They were perfectly still.

Harry sat up and ran his fingers through his messy hair. "Bloody Hell." he whispered to himself, resorting to using Ronlike swear words.

Only then did the occupant of the opposite cell stir. He or she shifted and went back to sleep, a long sigh escaping their lips.

The ceiling was about six and a half feet high, so Harry could stand up without hitting his head on the ceiling. His whole body felt bruised as his knees cracked and his back twisted. He suppressed a groan as pain stabbed him in the left side of his ribcage as he inhaled, but he could not suppress the gasp of surprise when he saw his fellow prisoner.

Draco Malfoy was staring at him from across the room. Dirt colored his hair a dirty blond instead of his trademark white-blond hair. A trickle of what looked like drien blood ran from his hair line above his right eyes down to his jaw. The black robes he was dressed in were brown, from dirt or color, Harry could not tell.

"Potter." Draco acknowledged him.

"Malfoy?" Harry asked, squinting through his dirt streaked glasses.

"Obviously." The shadow of a sneer darkened his face for a moment before disappearing.

"Where the bloody hell are we?"

"Well, resorting to Weasel's language, I see. Obviously we have been captured by Death Eaters. Strange how they couldn't do that before Voldmort was defeated."

Harry couldn't respond before they heard a door opening at the end of the hallway. Heavy footsteps resounded off the walls, becoming louder and louder as their captor approached.

"Harry Potter, finally captured by Death Eaters." laughed Fenrir Greyback as he came into view.

"Let me go, Greyback, or else." Harry threatened, his hands clenching into fists.

"Or what? You don't even have a wand!" mocked the werewolf as he approached the bars. "You can't do anything to me!"

"FENRIR!! ENOUGH!! We have better things to do than mock Potter." an unfamiliar voice reprimanded the werewolf. Harry's eyes snapped to the speaker. A woman stood there.

Her hair was the first thing to stand out. It was think, black, and pin straight. Her eyes were also black, glinting as she took int he sight of Harry Potter standing behind bars. Her full lips curled into a sneer as she watched Harry try and recognize her.

"You don't know who I am, do you, Potter?" she asked in a smooth voice.

"I don't care who you are. Though, I would like to know the name I should put on the "Defeated Death Eater" list." Harry said, regaining his composure.

"Aww. You still think you have a chance of defeating me. Well, my name is Sharda." the lady replied. She turned away form the cell and started her way back down the hallway. "Don't get too cozy! We have plans for you, Potter." She called back down the corridor, her voice reverberating off the stone floor and cinder block walls. Fenrir followed her, only pausing to glance back over his shoulder, his eyes mirroring the excitement he was feeling.

The door slammed shut, leaving Harry with Malfoy.

"What do they mean, "We have plans for you"?"Harry asked Malfoy as he took a seat back on the floor.

"Why should I tell you?"

"Because, if I'm rescued, you'll be rescued, since you are obviously a prisoner. Or, do you choose to sleep n that cell?" Harry explained.

Draco thought for a moment. "They will probably interrogate you. That's what they did to me."

Harry was cut off again by the door slamming open, hitting the wall behind it.

Greyback appeared again with a coil of metal rope over his arm. "Mr. Potter," he cackled, "We're ready for you now." He pulled the coil off his arms and made Harry hold his arm out of the bars. "If you don't, I make you." Not wanting to give the werewolf the satisfaction of that, he held his arms out.

He was led down the hallway, past two more cells. They were all empty. On the other side of the door was a bare room. There were no windows and the door disappeared as soon as it slammed shut. Sharda materialized from the shadows.

"And now, Mr. Potter, we begin."

* * *

Two and a half hours later, Harry was led, or more accurately, dragged from the room. A cut was bleeding above his eyebrow and both eyes were blackened. He felt that, for sure, his ribs were cracked and that his kidneys were bruised. A darkening burn raged from his left shoulder, across his back, down to his right hip. Bruising covered his shins, along with a great deal of dried blood.

Harry was thrown back in his cell by a disgruntled Greyback, who then continued down the hallway and slammed the door.

"Wow, Potter, they really did a number on you." Drace said as Harry ripped his shirt off, exposing the burn. The shirt just made it hurt so much more as it rubbed the raw skin.

"I wouldn't tell them anything, Malfoy. They got a little ticked." Harry growled as he sank to the floor. Over the next couple hours, his wounds slowly healed. "Malfoy, what's going on?" Harry asked as the burn on his back slowly receded.

"There's some spell on the cells. They help you heal faster, but that lets them torture you sooner. At the rate you're going, they'll have you back in there in a couple hours." Draco responded in a matter-of-fact tone.

"So, how long have you been in here?" Hary asked after an uncomfortable silence.

"From my guess, about three weeks."

"Three weeks!?" Harry exclaimed.

"That's what I said. How did they capture you? In our seventh year, they never could catch you."

"I was trying to break a spell with some of my aurors. It was a trap. Simple as that." Harry said darkly, resenting the fact that the obvious trap had worked. "How about you?"

Draco didn't answer, so Harry didn't push him. They spent the next couple hours in silence, mainly due to the fact that Harry fell into a dead sleep.

Hary was shaken awake by Greyback. "Potter, wake up!" He shouted, his foul breathe stinking up the air around him. He led Harry out of the cage, but instead of going to the torture chamber, they went down in the opposite direction.

They flooed to another abandoned building. Harry was not sure where they were, but really did not care when he saw Sharda standing before him. he straightened up and stood tall, not giving his captors the satisfaction of seeing him broken. But he was. The wounds had come back now that he was out of the cell. He was positive at least two ribs were broken.

"Mr. Potter, this is your last chance. If you don't give us any useful information, we will eb forced to destroy you." She hissed, angry that her foul means of torture had not worked earlier.

"I won't tell you anything. There's nothing you can do to change that, so too bad. I've faced death so many times, and defeated it, I really am not scared of it." Harry answered.

Fenrir growled and shoved Harry forward, leaving his wrists bound together. "Since you won't talk, we'll just have to kill you."

Harry grunted as he hit the ground on his side. He looked up as Sharda glared down at him.

"Good bye, Harry Potter. You won't live this time."

* * *

Dun Dun DUH!!

Well, depressing, I know. But I'm in a bad mood, so there.

Review, even if it is just to tell me how much you hate the chapter.

I love you all!

Defying Gravity

"No one lays a lily on their grave..."


	32. The Void

Me: So, I am here with J.K Rowling. Ms. Rowling, how do you feel now that Harry and Lestrange just killed each other?

J.K. Rolwing: This was not the way it was supposed to go. You were the one who has been messing with my characters!

Me: Yeah, they are your characters, but you left 19 years in the middle, so I am just filling that in for you.

J.K. Rowling: How many other characters did you mess with?

Me: Well, I kinda messed up Voldy...

J.K. Rowling: What did you do to him?

Voldy: (chants to himself) I am real... I am real...

J.K. Rowling: OK... (not quite sure what to say)

* * *

Sharda and Fenrir Greyback walked way, laughing, leaving Harry Potter to bleed to death all alone. They disappeared with a crack.

Harry lay face down on the ground. He struggled to gasp in a breathe, his lungs trying to fight against the burn of his broken ribs. Toxins were pooling in vital parts of his body, his kidneys failing completely. A gash in his side bled profusely. A long burn covered his back and torso, raging as wind burned his skin.

As night began to fall, his body started to shut down. His heart beat was a faint thud, the only sound echoing in the night.

Two hours after he was left to die, Harry went from unconscious to comatose.

* * *

Harry awoke in Kings' Crossing.

"Not again." Harry sighed as he sat up. He quickly dressed himself in the robes that sat next to him. "Is Dumbledore here too?"

"Harry, we meet again." Dumbledore greeted him as he walked out of the smoke that surrounded them.

"Just tell me this, I am dead this time?" Harry asked bluntly.

"No, Harry, my dear boy, you are not dead." Dumbledore told him with a twinkle in his eye. "Once again, you have the option of going home."

"Awesome. But what should I do once I get home? No one knows where I am and I'll just die anyway." Harry sighed and prepared to move into the next life.

"No, that is not all that awaits you back home." Dumbledore stopped him. Smoke started to swirl around him, obscuring Harry's view. "Just remember, you want to go back, not leave the ones you love." Dumbledore disappeared, leaving Harry alone.

"What the bloody hell was that all about?" Harry asked himself. "I don't wan to leave, I want to return." In his mind's eyes, he saw someone in the very same predicament.

"OH MY GOD!! I'VE GOT IT!!"

* * *

His mind fought the blurriness as his body failed him. With great effort, he whispered, "Ron... Help"

* * *

The Ministry of Magic was in chaos. Barely seconds after Hurley and O'Leary returned from the coast, screaming at anyone who would listen, "THEY'VE GOT HIM!!", hundreds of workers had left their desks and started searching for Harry.

Hermione was one of the first to hear about the disappearance. She immediately contacted Ron and the rest of the Weasleys. Mrs. Weasley promised to get a hold of Ginny. Ron appeared in her office a split second later.

"What do you mean 'Harry's gone'!?" Ron yelled as he turned around and saw Hermione standing by the small fireplace in her office.

"Death Eaters' captured him. We are searching now!" Hermione lunged for his hand and as soon as she had his wrist, aparated them to the deserted building. O'Leary was there, explaining to Kingsley what had happened.

"Thank Merlin you two are here!" O'Leary yelled as he saw the couple running over.

"What happened?"

* * *

Four and a half hours later, Hermione released the spell on the building. She had found nothing. Nothing at all.

"Ron, I can't find him. He was here, but then he disappeared. There is no trail, no trace." Hermione sobbed as she collapsed into Ron's arms.

"He'll be okay. This is Harry we're talking about. I mean, he's been in worse situations before." Ron tried to comfort her.

"Where is Harry!?" Ginny yelled from where she had aparated to. She ran to Hermione and Ron. "Where is he?"

"I d-don't know" Hermione stuttered as she dried her eyes.

"Ron."

"Yeah, Ginny?" Ron asked, looked at his little sister.

"I didn't say anything."

"Hermione?"

"It w-wasn't me!" Hermione said.

"Well, I heard something." Ron stated, knowing that he would soon be accused of needing to calm down because he was hearing voices.

"Help"

"Ron, it's coming from your pocket!" Ginny gasped. Ron thrust his hand into his pocket and pulled out the only thing in it. His wallet.

"Merlin!" Ron opened the wallet and pulled the Deluminator from the magical compartment.

He clicked it and a blue light shot out. It flew into the three of them and they disappeared.

* * *

Darkness slowly overtook Harry as he fought his own body. A light appeared over his body and the Phoenix song filled the air.

"No. No." Harry thought as the light came closer.

"Harry! Harry!" voices called for him.

He lost to the void.

* * *

The squeezing sensation took too long to end. As soon as they could breathe, Ginny, Ron and Hermione started calling Harry's name.

"Harry!" "Harry!"

It took a few moments for Ginny to see her fiance's body lying a few feet behind her.

"HARRY!" she cried as she saw his state. His eyes slid closed. "NO!"

Hermione pulled out her wand and cast a spell over Harry's body. The bleeding stopped, but his eyes did not reopen. "We need to get him to St. Mungo's"

With another flick of her wrist, Hermione sent them wizzing through time and space, praying that they were not too late.

* * *

Bad author... Bad author... you should never be that depressed and keep your readers waiting that long...

Sorry about the wait. I hope you like it. (No, that is too happy for this chapter)

Review!! REVIEW!!

Thanks for reading!!

Defying Gravity


	33. The talkingwithdeadpeople thing

Bad writer... bad writer... you should never make the readers wait that long... and you shouldn't tie up the author and try to make her give up the rights to Harry Potter... But stupid J.K. Rowling won't give in...

Oh... Wad up, my peeps?

J.K.Rowling: Mmm...hmmm

Me: Yes, Ms. Rowling? Do you have something to say?

J.K.Rowling: Mmmm...hmmmm..ammm.

Me: Well, LeStrange is not coming to save you! But you will give in and give me the characters of Harry Potter.!

J.K.Rowling: NEVER! (breaks the ropes, eyes burn red, and kills me with Avada Kedavra, but then, being the writer of Harry Potter, invents a spell to bring me back to life and forces me to write the chapter.)

BUT I WAS GETTING AROUND TO IT!!

DON'TCOMEAFTERMEORELSEMYNINJABUNNIESOFDOOMWILLAVENGEMEANDMYSQUIRRELMINIONSWILLTAKEOVERTHEWORLD!!

This is what happens when you mix too little sleep with Ben and Jerry's Phish Food Ice Cream.

* * *

"Harry, wake up!" Harry heard a voice telling him. The voice was female and sounded very caring. He opened his eyes, expecting to see Ginny standing over him.

The first thing he saw was a wave of red hair, but it was Lily.

"Mum?" Harry asked, very confused. "Am I dead?" He sat up and saw that he was in a very large white room. Surrounding him were his dad, Lupin, Sirius, Tonks, Mad Eye Moody, Fred, Cedric Diggory, and Colin Creevey. His mom knelt at his side, a sad look held in her eyes.

"No, sweetie, you're not dead." She told him gently.

"But you are all dead... right?" Harry asked, still very confused. The whole 'talking with dead people' thing can do that to you.

"Yes, we're dead." said his father as he approached his son. James grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him to his feet. Harry jumped when he felt his father's hand, calloused and rough from the many years playing quidditch, clutching a rough broomstick. "But your mind has left your body for a while. When a wizard is injured severely, their mind goes into a state of limbo, as to protect the person's sanity." He explained. "If your body recovers, your mind will go back to its original state and you will be fine. But if you do not recover, you have the choice of moving on or becoming a ghost."

"We made these choices already." Sirius stepped up. He pulled Harry into a bonecrushing hug. Harry gasped and hugged him back. "But really, you couldn't stay away from Dark wizards for two years?"

"Your body is healing in St. Mungo's right now." Lupin ignored Sirius, approached Harry, and shook his hand. "In a couple minutes, you should be able to return to your body."

"Just when you go back, remember one thing." Fred told him, an evil glint coming to his eye. "If you hurt my little sister, my brothers can hurt you physically, but know that I will mess you up mentally." He cracked his knuckles to emphasize his point. Harry gulped, but then felt a warm hand on his shoulder. He turned his head and saw his father's quidditch-worn hand.

"Your mother and I wanted to speak to you about that. When you went to our graves and spoke to us, we could hear you. We wanted to answer, but we can't do that unless you really opened you mind to us. You are a smart, caring young man. Don't doubt yourself." Harry looked around and found that everyone else had disappeared into the swirling mist.

"Harry, you really love this girl. She really loves you as well. Everything will work out."

"Trust me, Harry. I saw you and Ginny in the Common Room in my fifth year. It was almost sickening that way you two were looking at each other. You'll be fine." Colin laughed as Harry blushed. "But I have one thing to ask you. My camera is at Hogwarts. I'm not sure if anyone has found it yet. It's behind that big tapestry in the Common Room. There are a lot of pictures in it. Give them to my brother, and tell him that I am all right, and that he has to get on with his life."

"Got it." Harry slapped him on the back as the small young man smiled.

"And one more thing, Potter. Tell Kingsley that you broke into the Ministry." Mad-Eye gave Harry a twisted grin. "I really want to see his reaction."

"And Harry, thanks. For bringing my body back." Cedric shook his hand.

"Of course."

* * *

Hermione, Ron, and Ginny appeared in the middle of St. Mungo's. Harry floated along next to them. Everyone in the room froze as they saw the four.

"We need a healer now!" Hermione yelled as soon as she had fully appeared. She led Harry through the doors at a run, Ron and Ginny following behind her.

"What's going on here?" asked a healer, blocking the door. "You cannot just barge in here like this." She threw her arms out and stared Hermione down.

But Hermione was not in the mood for a staring contest.

"Harry Potter needs help right now!" Ginny yelled from Hermione.

The healer glanced down at the floating strecher and gasped at what she saw. Harry was deathly pale and looked within inches of death. After about two seconds, she sprang into action. With a quick flick of her wand, she sent a Patronous down the hall through a door at the end. Se turned back to Hermione and said, "I have it from here." With a swish of her wand, she took control over the floating strecher and ran Harry through the door, second to the left.

"There's nothing else we can do for him." Hermione whispered as she turned away from the hallway. Only then did Ron and Ginny see that a tear was running down her cheek.

"Oh yes there is!" Ginny had the look of determination that told others around her that she was going to kill the first person who wrongs her. She stormed out the door and aparated.

* * *

I give you permission to hunt me down and kill me for the short chapter, but you must review first.

I hope you enjoyed it!! The next chapter is underway right now!

Defying Gravity


	34. Step by Step

Well, I'm alive. *runs away from the rather large mob of people with torches and pitchforks, then turns and uses her mad Martial Arts skills on them*

Sorry 'bout that wait. Too much to explain. Please don't send an angry review about it.

And just because I know people don't read the author's note at the bottom, I will say this now. I know that I have no right to say this, but please don't tell my about the bad spelling or grammar. I normally have very good spelling and grammar, but this story is my only way of writing without worrying about those things. I have to worry enough about this stuff in school essays, and adding it here would just make it seem like another assignment.

Thanks!

* * *

I don't own Harry Potter. I am not blonde or have an awesome English accent. I am not J.K. Rowling. I know, boring. But I have to deal with these sad facts everyday.

* * *

Ginny stormed out the door of St. Mungo's with Ron and Hermione hot on her heels.

"GINNY!" Ron yelled after his little sister. Ginny didn't seem to hear him. She just ran down the hallway and into the waiting room. She stopped suddenly and pulled out her wand. Before she could do anything, Hermione grabbed her shoulder.

"Ginny, wait. What are you going to do? We don't know who did this. We don't know where they are. Once we find out more about Harry's injuries, we could probably narrow down the search but for now,"

Ginny cut Hermione off. "Hermione, I know how to find them." With that, Ginny grabbed Hermione's and Ron's hands, and aparated.

******

The three landed in the room where they had found Harry. Almost immediately, Ginny started spinning her wand over the patch of bloody grass. Tears rolled down her face, but she kept the spell going. Ron and Hermione sat and watched after the first three minutes of the mumbling and wand-twirling.

After five minutes, Ginny's eyes suddenly started to glow. Ron leaped to his feet, as did Hermione. Ginny ignored them, keeping the mumbling going.

"Hermione, do you know what she's doing?" Ron whispered to his girlfriend, worried about this little sister.

"Ron, I have an idea, but it is totally impossible... I think." Hermione whispered back, scared to break Ginny's concentration. "It might be a locator spell. It is very complex magic and is used mostly by..." Hermione trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence.

"Used by who?" Ron hissed.

"Used by Death Eaters." Hermione whimpered. Ginny's eyes had turned from a glowing yellow to an electric blue. "They use this spell to track their victims."

"How would GINNY know this?" Ron said in his normal tone, not worried about ruining the spell anymore. He reached his hand out as if to touch Ginny's arm, but Ginny collapsed before he could.

Hermione flicked her wand, which she had grabbed from her pocket the minute Ginny's eyes had started to glow, and slowed the fall. Ron caught his sister's head before it could hit the floor.

"I know where they are... I know where they are... I know where they are..." Ginny mumbled over and over, seemingly unaware of the two pairs of concerned eyes trained on her face.

"Hermione, what happened to her?" Ron asked.

"The spell can be a strain on a person's body. She probably just drained her energy." Hermione guessed, flicking her wand her Ginny's rising and falling chest.

Immediately, Ginny stirred, opening her eyes. There was no sign of the blue glow that had been there almost moments before.

"I know where they are!" she announced, as if the other two had not heard her mumbling before.

"Ginny, how did you know that spell?" Ron asked, his voice cracking halfway through.

"That one year at Hogwarts with the Death Eaters. They taught us all sorts of Dark Magic. I didn't use any, but I learned it. This was one of the first things they taught us. I never though that I would ever use it." Ginny explained, standing up and flipping back her hair, all her energy restored.

"Fine, but where are these people?" Hermione asked quickly.

"Here." Ginny flicked her wand and a blue light appeared, not unlike the blue orb they had used to find Harry, but a darker, almost midnight blue. Ginny grabbed Ron's wrist in one hand and Hermione's in the other. The orb flew into Ginny's chest, and they were off again.

???????????????????

The healer rushed Harry through the doors, sending Patronuses all the way. One of the many white barn owls soared through a door at the end of a long hall and almost instantaneously, Madam Pomfrey rushed out, pulling out her wand. _(She has a summer job at St. Mungo's)._

"What's going on?" she asked as she ran to the nurse and her floating patient.

"Harry Potter. Close to death. Comatose." The nurse yelled back as they ran through two swinging doors. "Burns, lacerations, broken bones, probably internal bleeding, and that's just what's obvious. There might be organ failure."

They arrived in an healing room in record time. Three healers were already there, having received their messages. They started casting spells all over Harry's body. Giving him oxygen, healing his bruised kidneys, cleaning out the many, many cuts, slashes, burns, and scrapes. One healer concentrated on reattaching the broken ribs floating in Harry's chest and reinflating the collapsed lung. Another performed multiple spells on his spinal cord, which had been beaten, bruised, and most likely broken.

"We cannot heal all of this. Fix the life threatening and start to heal the rest. If we heal this all now, there might be a serious shock to his brain." Pomfrey explained.

???????????????????

Ginny, Ron and Hermione landed with a thud in a dark cell. Hermione slapped a hand over Ron's mouth before he could grunt or swear, or both. All three had their wands out, ready for a fight, but no one came. Taking a closer look around, Ginny noticed another cell, but no one was in it.

In one swift movement, Hermione pulled Ron's wallet out of his back wallet. Ron jumped, but managed to keep quiet. From the special pocket, she pulled out the Invisibility Cloak and threw it over the three of them.

And just in time. As soon as the Cloak's edges floated to the floor, covering their feet, Fenrir slammed the door down the hall into the wall. He dragged a large, unconscious form behind him. He pulled it into the empty cell across the way, swung the door shut, and locked it. As the form began to stir, Greyback stalked back down the hall.

Hermione pulled Ginny and Ron after her as she walked through the cell doors, unlocking the other door as she went. Ron and Ginny followed, making sure that the Cloak was covering them completely. It was so much easier when Ginny was there, instead of Harry, who was taller and broader.

Hermione knelt and turned over the body, careful to avoid touching any of the wounds that were rapidly healing. The three gasped when they saw who the seemingly lifeless form was.

Draco Malfoy lay on the cell floor, a long scratch running the length of his face, pulling the left side of his mouth into a grimace. Hermione waved her wand over Malfoy, sending a blue light into his chest.

"He's okay. I'm going to send him to the Ministry." she whispered. From the end of her wand appeared a note, which she stuffed in the front pocket of Draco's shirt. "The Ministry will find this. It explains why he's there."

With a final flick of her wrist, Draco was gone and the three were alone again. "Won't they notice when Malfoy's not in here anymore?" Ginny asked, seeing a problem in Hermione's plan.

"No." Hermione closed her eyes and flicked her wrist in an upward motion. Draco Malfoy was in the cell, only he laid down and went to sleep. "They won't see a difference. Let's go."

Rising from her crouching position, Hermione exited the cell and relocked it as soon as Ron and Ginny followed. A large clang startled them and both doors at each end of the hallway swung open. There was no where for Ron, Hermione, and Ginny to go.

"Ron, you take Greyback. Ginny and I will get the other." Hermione whispered as Greyback snorted. Neither of the Death Eaters noticed anything, probably taking it as a snore from Malfoy. With one last quick squeeze of his hand, Hermione pulled the Cloak off with her wand trained on the chest of the dark haired lady. Ron had his wand on Greyback, whose lip curled a bit when he saw his attacker.

* * *

Harry took his first deep breathe of air in a long time as his airway was cleared of blood.

"I think we should stop now. He is not in danger of dying now. Anymore and his body won't be able to handle all of the changes made so suddenly." One of the Healers announced as he stopped in the internal bleeding.

"Yes. He will have a scar on his back from that burn, but what's one more scar on this kid." The first Healer laughed weakly. "He won't wake up for another couple of hours. Just let him sleep."

* * *

Ron sent his quickest stunner ever, hitting Greyback square in the chest and sending him shooting into the wall. Ginny and Hermione had a harder time with their adversary.

"Don't you even want to know who I am?" Sharda mocked as a stunner flew right by her head. "I mean, don't you want to know who defeated the great Harry Potter?" A laugh echoed around the room.

"You're a cousin of LeStrange, aren't you?" Ginny screamed as she sent a Bat-Bogey hex flying.

"Yes, but that doesn't matter. My cousin was weak to be beaten by your fool of a mother." Sharda did not realize what she had set off.

Ron turned and shot a single hex, straight and true. Not expecting a spell from him, Sharda had no time to react. The spell hit her right under her left arm. She collapsed.

"Ron... is she... dead?" Hermione whimpered, staring at the body before her.

"No. Passed out." Ron replyed. "We should get these guys to the Ministry. I'm sure they'll be interested in them."

* * *

Well, another chapter.

I hope you enjoyed.

I want reviews. Reviews keep me motivated. OK, so does chocolate, but that's a whole other subject.

Defying Gravity


	35. Fatigue

No, I don't own the characters. Please don't make me say it again.

* * *

Ron, Hermione, and Ginny appeared in the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic. Sharda and Fenrir floated along behind them on floating stretchers, tied up with numerous cords and wands gone. Within seconds of them appearing, Kingsley ran to them, wand out.

"What happened? You were at St. Mungo's and then left. Where did you go?" Kingsley demanded as three Aurors took command of the two Death Eaters.

"Harry's okay? Please tell me Harry's okay!" Ginny pleaded, the energy from the spell Hermione had cast on her wearing off. She swayed in her spot and grabbed Ron's arm for support.

"Harry's okay. He's breathing normally. He will have a few scars though. He had so many injuries that healing all of them at once would have sent his mind into overload." Kingsley said gently. Ginny relaxed slightly.

"Why would it be an overload?" Hermione asked, her curiousity getting the best of her.

"If we had healed every injury, different spells would have to be cast all over his body. With all the different spells, his mind would not be able to understand why everything was healing. With other spells and potions, such as Polyjuice Potion, the same thing is happening to every part of your body, so your mind would have an easier time understanding." explained Kingsley in his deep voice. "He will be fine." He added when he saw the nervous look on Ginny's face. "He is still at St. Mungo's,"

Before he could continue, Ginny was gone.

* * *

Harry looked around at all the people, the people who had died during both wars. Before he could say anymore, he felt a pinprick in his forehead.

"That's you going back. Your body is healing and is well enough for you to return." Lily explained gently, seeing her son jump in surprise.

"Good bye, Harry. I wish we had more time, but there are people waiting for you at home." James explained.

Before Harry could answer, the scene before him vanished. And then, everything turned black.

* * *

Ginny appeared in the waiting room at St. Mungo's. Her parents were there, as well as George, Angelina, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, and Percy. Ron and Hermione appeared a moment after her.

"Where is he?" Ginny whispered as her mother sprang to her feet and rushed over.

"Dear, we were so worried," Mrs. Weasley started, only to be cut off.

"Where is he?" Ginny repeated, this time, looking straight into her mother's eyes. Mrs. Weasley saw desperation in the eyes not dissimilar from hers.

"Second room on the left." She said quietly. None of the people in the room tried to stop Ginny as she staggered down the hall, her body giving way to the terrible fatigue left by the locater spell.

As Ginny turned the corner, she saw lying there. His face was pale white, his lips contrasting with the palor. His eyes were closed, but still held the appearance of a great struggle within. Ginny stumbled to the bed and gently placed her hand on Harry's. It was perfectly still and warm. She saw that his hair had been washed of the grime and blood that had matted it before. On his neck was a red spot which extended down under his hospital robe.

Ginny pulled back the collar and gasped as she saw the scar that marked Harry's back. Not wanting to see the extent of the damage, she pulled the robe back into place. Harry looked so peaceful, and at that moment, Ginny realised, just how tired she really was. A wave of fatigue washed over her and she swayed in her spot, trying to stay awake.

* * *

After about fifteen minutes, Mrs. Weasley got worried about Ginny. She had disappeared into her fiance's room and hadn't made a sound. As quietly as she could, Molly snuck to the door and peeked inside the room. All that was visible was the end of the bed and the one chair placed at the end of it.

Ginny was no where to be seen.

Mrs. Weasley pushed the door open, flinching at the squeak the hinges made. She was the only one bothered by it.

Ginny was curled up, on top of the sheet's, next to Harry, her head resting on his shoulder. His cheek was laid on the top of her head. Ginny's arm was across Harry's chest, her hand on his heart. His hand laid on the sheet, but as Mrs. Weasley watched, it rose to rest on Ginny's waist in a protective position. Harry's eye lashes quivered, and slowly rose, revealing his brilliant green eyes. They wandered to the face of the person lying next to him and his lips curled into a smile. His eyes closed again, not even turning in the general direction of the woman standing in the doorway.

Molly backed up slowly and shut the door, which, thankfully, did not squeak. Everyone else had gone home, leaving Mr. Weasley alone, reading a report on Merlin-knows-what.

Wordlessly, she pulled her husband from his seat and aparated them home.

* * *

Harry felt himself return to his body. The next moment, a flowery scent reached his nose and a warm hand touched his. He did not have the energy to respond, only to lay there and feel a small body lie down on the bed next to him. A light weight rested on his heart, but Harry soon realized it was a hand. The same happened with a head on his shoulder.

He gained awareness of his body and tried again and again to raise his hand. Countless minutes passed as Harry wrestled with his body, trying to gain control of it. A slight squeak sounded, but he ignored it. All he cared about was raising his hand.

With a renewed determination, he raised his hand and tried to control the shaking. He laid it gently on the waist of the person next to him and felt the need to open his eyes, knowing who he woudl see beside him.

* * *

SHE LIVES!!! No, I didn't fall off the face of the Earth, though that would be pretty cool. Sorry for making you guys wait so long, but this was a happy chapter and I had no idea what to do with it. I hope you approve.

Please review. I want to reach over 600 this chapter and that will definitely encourage me to write another chapter.

Defying Gravity


	36. Dungbombs and ferrets

No, I didn't die or fall off the face of the earth, although that would be pretty freakin' AWESOME!!! But, no, I am alive. Sorry for the extremely long wait, life in general is to blame. I also didn't know what to write after the last chapter. Stupid writer's block. But this chapter just kind of came to me as I watched one of the Harry Potter movies.

Before I start, I would like to say that I will continue this story, full throttle, if enough people support it. The only way you can support it through reviews. So I hope to open my email tomorrow afternoon and find it filled with reviews.

I don't own the characters. I am not British, but love the accent. I am not blonde, I have black hair. I do not have world famous initials, just letters that my mom made sure didn't spell out a word like HOP or SAP. SOOO... I am obviously not J.K. Rowling. I built a bridge and got over it.

So, on with the story...

* * *

"Aww! Come on, Harry! Why not?" whined Ron as the two best mates walked through the Leaky Cauldron one Saturday afternoon. It had been three weeks since the accident and Harry was just about back up to speed after spending it either at St. Mungo's or at his house, with Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, and Fleur repeatedly checking in on him. Ginny had gone back to her training and would be there for another three weeks.

Harry only scowled as he pulled out his wand and tapped the bricks on the back wall. As the archway into Diagon Alley opened, heads turned to glance at the new arrivals, only to snap back when they saw who was entering. Pointedly ignoring them, Ron and Harry swiftly cut through the crowd and headed towards Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes to escape the chaos, ironically.

"No, Ron, I cannot use power in the Ministry to get you into the press conference with, whatever their name was. Why do you want to get into this thing again?" Harry asked, exasperated with his friend.

"He is the newest player for the Chudley Cannons!" Ron said, also exasperated with his friend, but this time over said friend's lack of knowledge on the team. "And you don't need to use power. Just loan me the Cloak!" Ron and Harry entered the shop as he said this.

"Ron, remember the last time we snuck into the Ministry?" questioned Harry as they wove their way through the crowd.

"Does sneaking into that bloke's office and planting the Dungbomb count?"

"That was YOU! We had top security measures set up for a month after that!" Harry exclaimed.

"Yeah, well, he deserved it. He acted like a total ar-"

"Why young Ronnie-kins, there are young children about! Watch your language!"exclaimed George in a very good impression of Mrs. Weasley as he sauntered by, carrying a box of Decoy Detanators to the back of the store. With the end of the war, the more serious aspects of the store had become less popular, but were still profitable.

"George, what is it you wanted to talk to us about?" asked Harry as he and Ron followed him to the back of the store.

"I have something for the two of you." stated George as he placed the box on the top shelf and performed a quick spell to keep the Detonators from escaping. Leading them back to the workshop, Harry and Ron glanced at each other, wondering whether they should follow or run while they still had the chance. "And I'm not going to do anything evil to you two, in case you were wondering." George called back.

"Then what are you doing?" asked Ron, still supicious. He followed his brother to a corner, where he pulled out present, a badly wrapped present, but a present nonetheless.

"Ron, this is for you." George held it out as Ron shrank away. "Aw, come on Ron, it's just a present, it's not going to jump up and bite your nose off or something."

"Though that would be something you would do." pointed out Harry as he waited for Ron to accept the present. When he didn't, it was offered to him in turn.

Well, this changed things. Harry stumbled back, tripping over a fake wand in the process. When George's expression fell, he regretted the move and slowly reached towards the package. As it slid into his hand, he stiffened, but nothing happened. Feeling a bit more confidant, he tugged the lopsided bow.

BANG! In a puff of smoke, much like that found in a muggle magic show, Harry disappeared. Ron stood frozen, waiting to see what would happen, but his sudden deep freeze ended when he caught sight of the floor where Harry had stood moments before. Ron roared in laughter, as did George.

In the spot where Harry had been standing, he still stood. The only differnce was that he was standing on four feet.

And he was a ferret. A sleek black ferret with grin eyes sniffed around and quickly looked up at the two giants before him. An angry expression, as angry an expression as a ferret could pull off, appeared on his furry face. He looked back, caught a sight of his tail, and started chattering at the two brothers, who were leaning on each other for support as tears streamed down their faces.

"George-" gasped Ron as he clutched his side, "What.. did... you...DO!"

George regained more composure than Ron, but that was not saying much. "Well, when one tugs the bow, he turns into a ferret. Inspired by a rather twitchy white ferret who, I am sure, you remember well. He'll change back when I, the one who pranked him, pulls the ribbon again." George demonstrated. In another puff of smoke, Harry appeared again, with two feet planted firmly on the ground. "The best part, the prankee, Harry, has full awareness of what's going on."

From Harry's expression, this little detail was obvious.

Soon, Harry realized the genius behind the prank and laughed along with them.

"Approval granted, George. Definitely." Harry told him as he and Ron exited the shop. They walked down the street, headed towards Ollivanders where Luna was working at the time.

"So, Ron, I guess you now have bettter payback for guys who are arses to Hermione than a Dungbomb, right?"

* * *

So, I am not sure I should continue this story. I might do a chapter with little excerpts from the coming years, but I will continue the story, full throttle if enough people support it.

Thanks for sticking with me through this.

As always,

Defying Gravity


	37. Firebreathing chickens

So, I've decided to continue with the story, obviously, or I wouldn't be writing this. But, of course, I could be writing to say that I'm not going to continue. But then I would be adding to the story...

Anyway, thanks to support from readers, I'll keep going. I may not update regularly until September, though.

And now, without further stalling, I present Chapter 36, which I am sad to say, is a little sad, but necessary.

* * *

Me: I do not own Harry Potter, and here to tell you that is none other than Snape

Snape: Yes, no one owns Potter, or his little friends, obviously. Otherwise, they would not be free to strut around the Castle, just like his father did.

*Suddenly, Harry bursts in* Harry: I do not strut. And neither did my father.

Snape: Potter, your father was an arrogant-

Me: Okay! Let's leave these two to battle it out. Meanwhile, here's the next chapter.

* * *

Four weeks after the "Incident", as it was referred to in the Auror Department, Harry walked into his office in staid clothing. As he threw his black cloak on his desk, a memo zipped through the door and hit him in the back of the head. Unfolding it, Harry sighed, knowing what it would say.

_Dear Mr. Potter,  
Please be aware that the Court procedures will begin  
in 15 minutes, in Courtroom 10. Thank you._

Harry sighed. Today was the first day of the trials for Fenrir Greyback and Sharda, and from the evidence, today would be the only day of court. Although the trials were given to be fair, no one had any doubt as to what the ruling would be. Life in prison, wand cut to pieces, no human interaction ever again. Turning on his heel, head down, Harry started back down the hall, not making eye contact with anyone. Whispers followed him back down the hall, but this was nothing new. From his first year at Hogwarts, whispers had followed him, and he had soon learned to tune them out.

As he reached the door to the lifts, he pushed the yellow botton and waited for a few moments for the doors to open. "_Auror Department" _the cool female voice announced. Harry stepped in and glanced at the list of buttons beside the door. The lowest level, the level he was going to, had already been pushed by the tall man standing next to him.

Harry did a double take and realized it was Draco Malfoy standing next to him.

"Malfoy?" Harry asked, unable to believe it. He knew that Hermione and Ron had sent Draco on to Ministry, but had not heard much else from there, other than that he was healed and that, although involved in Dark Magic, he and his parents had been threatened by Voldemort himself, so there would be some punishment, but not that of a real Death Eater.

"Potter." Malfoy said curtly with a nod. Malfoy had never forgotten that Harry and his friends had saved his life three times now. And did Malfoy hate that he owed something to his childhod enemy.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for the trial." He simply stated as the doors opened. _"The Department of Mysteries" _The two exited the lift and walked down the hall. Harry swallowed as he passed the door to the Department of mysteries and continued to the same courtroom that had been used for his own trial.

Without saying a word to each other, Harry and Draco separated, Draco to sit in the back, away from prying eyes, and Harry to sit in the front, as he was the prime witness. As he sat down, he turned and saw Ron and Hermione sitting in the back. Making eye contact, Ron and Hermione both gave him a thumbs up.

Harry just wished that Ginny had been there, but she couldn't get away from the training camp for another two weeks. She had sent a letter, which Harry had slipped into his pocket that morning.

Looking around, Harry recognized others in the room. O'Leary, Hurley, and the healers from St. Mungo's sat near each other. Two chairs sat in the middle of the floor, chains swinging ominously, waiting for someone to sit down. As Harry took a seat by the wall, a few more witches of the Wizengamot filed in and took their places. The Chief Warlock, Tiberious Ogden, the former Wizengamot Elder, had yet to arrive, so the front, middle seat sat empty.

The tension in the room was palpable as Ogden entered, followed by Percy Weasley, who would be acting as stenographer again. When the Ministry had been reorganized, Percy was able to retain his job as Junior Assistant to the Minister, with proof that he had never done any Dark deeds. As the two wizards sat down, a silence fell over the room.

The doors to the left side of the Wizengamot opened. Sharda, head held high, with Fenrir Greyback, slightly less haughty, beside her, were led in by two Aurors. They were thrust into the seats at the middle of the room and quickly bound by the chains.

* * *

"Well, at least it was quick." Hermione stated as she, Ron, and Harry hurried up the hallway to her office in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Hermione had jumped at the chance to finish her seventh year, and, not surprisingly, was still protesting the abuse of house elves, though she might have figured out that S.P.E.W. was a lost cause years ago.

"Well, of course it was quick! There was no way they were getting off!" Ron scoffer as they entered Hermione's office. It was as orderly as you would expect. As Hermione went to grad her cloak from the stand in the corner, a paper memo flew over Harry's shoulder and landed on the desk. Hermione quickly picked it up and unfolded it, reading the message at light speed, a practiced and well-used skill.

"I'm going to have to stay here. There have been some new developements and I need to be here for them. I'm sorry." Hermione told them as she stuffed the memo in her pocket. Ron and Harry quickly told her that they understood and, with a few "I'll see you later"s and hugs, they left Hermione to her work.

Harry and Ron quickly trotted to the lift and, when it arrived, squeezed in, seeing that the Atrium button was already lit. The others in the lift, for the most part, ignored the two, too busy dealing with the trials of their own jobs, which, at the time, included a fire-breathing chicken.

"Why is it always chickens?" the man mumbled as he quickly put out the flames in his beard. "Every month, someone has to call in about a fire-breathing chicken. What's wrong with other farm animals?"

Harry and Ron quickly ducked out of the lift as soon as the door opened ans when the grills smoothly slid shut, burst out laughing. "Poor man, dealing with fire-breathing chickens."

* * *

I'll talk about the trial later, when Harry is with Ginny again. But I hope you weren't too disappointed. This chapter totally sucks, I know.

I'll write more by the end of August, I promise.

Defying Gravity


	38. Not So Fruitful Interrogation

Harry laid back on his couch, the muscles in his back slowly relaxing. 6 weeks of not flying had left him aching to get back in the air and after an approval from the Healers, he had spent the entire afternoon flying in the Quidditch pitch near his house. He sighed and rested his head against the arm of the sofa, ready for a nap before getting up and having dinner.

As soon as he fell asleep, a sharp peck on the nose woke him up with a start. He sat up quickly, dislodging Rowena from his chest. She hooted in surprise and took flight, dropping the letter clutched in her beak onto Harry's lap.

"Rowena!" Harry exclaimed as he quickly held his arm out for her to land on. She hooted in indignation as he whispered apologies. She ruffled her feathers and, with a quick farewell nip on Harry's arm, flew through the open window to find a nice branch to take a nap on.

Harry turned his attention to the letter sitting on his lap. Picking it up, he saw Ginny's neat, sharp handwriting. He quickly tore the envelope open and pulled out the single sheet of parchment. He unfolded it and read,

_Harry,  
I will get home tomorrow at through  
the Floo system at the Burrow. Meet me there and  
we can have lunch and talk about everything, especially  
the trial. You are not going to get out of it, you promised.  
Love, Ginny_

Harry smiled as he read the last line of the short letter. He really hoped that she would have been satisfied with the letter he had sent, telling her that everything had gone well, but he knew that Ginny would not be happy unless she got a play-by-play of the case. He sighed and went back to his nap, only to find he was very hungry.

"So much for resting a bit."

* * *

Harry sat at the kitchen table of the Burrow, staring intently at the flames in the fireplace. The intensity of his gaze had left Mrs. Weasley in a fit of laughter as she watched him from the counter. His lack of response had amused her even more.

"Harry, no matter how hard you stare at the fire, it will not make her get here faster." She told him. Again, he didn't respond. She laughed and went on baking a cake for that night's dessert.

As Harry's eyes started to hurt from gazing into the flames for too long, the fire turned emerald green and a figure appeared, dragging a large trunk after her. Ginny stepped from the fireplace and quickly brushed the soot off of her clothing before she could track it into the house. She looked up and smiled as she saw Harry leaving his seat at the table. She quickly placed her trunk beside the fireplace and hugged him around the neck. The burn from six weeks ago wass still present, a light pink discoloration, but still enough to make Ginny's throat tighten.

She had had to go back to the training camp after they knew that Harry was going to recover, but him in a white hospital bed had left her shaken. Only his warm body against hers left her any comfort in the fact that he was alright.

"Ginny, I missed you so much." Harry mumbled into her neck, his face pressed to the hair over her shoulder.

"And I missed you too. But I do need to breathe." Ginny gasped as he tightened his grip around her waist.

"Oops." Harry quickly released her with a grin, only to kiss her spectacularly on the mouth.

"Ahem" Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat, awaiting her hug hello. Ginny rushed over to her and gave her a hug. "I missed you, darling. I know you want to interrogate Harry, so get to it. We'll talk over dinner tonight." Mrs. Weasley told her daughter as she released her.

"Thanks, Mum." Ginny grinned and with a quick flick of her wand, sent her trucks zooming up the stairs to her room. "So, Harry, you have some talking to do. Let's go." Ginny quickly pulled him out of the house to apparate to Diagon Alley.

* * *

They appeared in front of a little cafe in Diagon Alley, one of the small businesses that had appeared after Voldemort's downfall. Ginny and Harry were soon seated in a corner booth, away from the prying eyes of the other patrons of the establishment. Two menus appeared on the table and the couple quickly ordered, poking the entree they wanted on the menu. Their order was quickly sent to the kitchen, magically, of course.

"Now, talk." Ginny ordered. Harry sighed, knowing that this would be a meal long affair.

"What do you want to know?" He asked wearily.

"Who was there?"

"The normal people... and Draco Malfoy."

"Malfoy? Why was that dirtbag there?" Ginny knew that Malfoy had been forced to do many of the evils he had commited, but still had never forgiven him for the final year at Hogwarts that he had been there. The year with Snape and the Carrows.

"He was held hostage, remember? And I think he wanted to be there to prove something." Harry shrugged. He had thought about Malfoy's reasons to for being there, and had come up with a theory. "I think he wants people to realize that he is not on their side anymore." Of course, Ginny understood which side he meant and nodded. "Next question."

"I don't know, just tell me everything."

"Everything!?" Ginny's glare told him that he would eb held hostage until every detail of the trial was laid out. "Fine."

"Well, once the whole Wizengamot was there, two of those blokes from Magical Imprisonment (A new department of the ministry, seeing how they can't use Dementors anymore) led Sharda and Greyback in and put them in those chairs with the chains. Well, Sharda acted like it was a throne, the way sheheld her head high and all. Greyback just looked as though he was about to be torn apart, which was a good possibility, seeing how many people he's hurt.

Well, They did the whole name reading thing, and then I just had to tell what they did to me." Harry shivered as he remembered how hard that had been to do without showing any weakness. He had never liked giving anyone the satisfaction of knowing that he had hurt them, especially those two. "And I did. Then they had to show some graphs of the wounds on me, and that was about it. It was really quick. They are going to be locked up for the rest of their lives, their wands destoyed, and no human contact ever again."

"Harry, that is not enough detail! I said everything and that was certainly not everything!" Ginny half-cried, getting the attention of those around them. Harry quickly ducked his head, avoiding being recognized. He was still not comfortable with people staring at his head and now his neck.

"Well, that was everything." Harry quickly whispered as heads turned back to their meals. "I told you it was short."

"So there is nothing else?"

"No. Nothing, and I promise I would have told you." Harry swore as their meals blossomed on their table in a was similar to that at Hogwarts. Ginny pouted ass she realized the sincerity behind his words. "But..."

Ginny quickly perked up, hoping that he had remembered some small detail. "You have to tell me everything about the camp." Realizing that it was over, she started telling about the camp.

"It was awesome. You would have loved it. No offense to Hogwarts Quidditch and all, but they were amazing. I mean, some of them had been playing together for YEARS!" Ginny quickly started explained everything she had learned in loving detail. Harry just smiled and listened, glad to see Ginny happy.

* * *

So, not much detail with the trial, mainly because I didn't think there would be much to it.

Up next, wedding planning. I think I will make just a bunch of little scenes, all put together in one chapter. If you approve of this idea, tell me so.

Thank you for reading after all this time. If there is anyone out there who has been with me from the beginning, send me a review and tell me so.

And everyone else, send a review, too!

Defying Gravity


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